**'•-  '>?->'•• 

- 
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m 


SPEECHES 

it 

INCIDENT  TO  THE 

Visit  of  Philander  Chase  Knox 

Secretary  of  State  of  the  United  States  of  America 
TO  THE 

Countries  of  the  Caribbean 


FEBRUARY  23  TO  APRIL  17,  1912 


WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT  PRINTING  OFFICE 
1913 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Itinerary vm 

I 

Speeches  in  Panama 1-16 

Welcome  upon  arrival  at  Colon,  February  27, 
1912 : 

His    Excellency    Demosthenes    Arose- 

mena 3 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 5 

At  Panama  City,  at  banquet  given  by  Minis 
ter  for  Foreign  Affairs,  February  28,  1912: 

His  Excellency  Aristides  Arjona 6 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox n 

II 

Speeches  in  Costa  Rica T7~29 

At  a  dinner  at  San  Jose,  March  3,  1912: 

His  Excellency  President  Ricardo  Jime 
nez 19 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 24 

At   luncheon    on    board    the    "Maryland", 
March  4,  1912 : 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 29 

III 

Speeches  in  Nicaragua 31-68 

At  railroad  station,  Managua,  March  5,  1912: 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 33 

in 


258166 


IV  CONTENTS. 

Speeches  in  Nicaragua — Continued. 

Reception  by  President  of  Nicaragua,  March 

6,    1912:  PAGE 

His  Excellency  President  Adolfo  Diaz...  34 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 38 

At  the  National  Assembly,  March  6,  1912: 

Dr.  Ignacio  Suarez 46 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 53 

At  the  Supreme  Court,  March  6,  1912: 

Dr.  Alfonso  Solorzano 5^ 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 61 

At  banquet  given  by  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  March  6,  1912: 

His  Excellency  Diego  M.  Chamorro 62 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 67 

IV 

Speeches  in  Honduras 69-81 

At  luncheon  given  by  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs  at  Amapala,  March  8,  1912: 

His  Excellency  Mariano  Vasquez 71 

Mr.  Philander  C.   Knox 74 

At  luncheon  on  the   "Maryland,"  March  9, 
1912  : 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 77 

His  Excellency  Mariano  Vasquez 79 

V 

Speeches  in  Salvador 83~95 

Welcome    upon    arrival    at    San    Salvador, 
March  u,  1912 : 

His  Excellency  PresidentManuelAraujo..  85 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 87 


CONTENTS.  V 

Speeches  in  Salvador — Continued. 

At  banquet  given    by   Minister  for  Foreign 

Affairs,  March  n,  1912:  PAGE 

His  Excellency  Francisco  Duenas 88 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 91 

VI 

Speeches  in  Guatemala 97-126 

Reception  by  President  of  Guatemala,  March 

14,  1912: 

Mr.  Philander  C.   Knox 99 

His    Excellency  President    Estrada  Ca 
brera 101 

At  banquet  given   by  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  March  14,  1912: 

His  Excellency  Luis  Toledo  Herrarte...  103 

Mr.  Philander  C.   Knox 107 

At  reception  by  Legislative  Assembly,  March 

15,  1912: 

Sefior  Don  Arturo  Ubico n  i 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 114 

At  University  of  Guatemala,  March  15,  1912 : 

Licenciado  Manuel  Cabral 117 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 120 

At  banquet  given  by  President  of  Guatemala, 
March  16,  1912 : 

His  Excellency  Estrada  Cabrera 121 

Mr.   Philander  C.  Knox 123 


VI  CONTENTS. 

VII  PAGE 

Speeches  in  Venezuela 127-145 

At   Independence   Hall,  Caracas,  March   23, 
1912 : 

Dr.  Marquez  Bustillos 129 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 130 

At  Bolivar  statue: 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 131 

At  banquet  given   by   Minister  for   Foreign 
Affairs,  March  24,  1912: 

His  Excellency  Manuel  A.  Matos 132 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 135 

Farewell  to  President  of  Venezuela,  March 
25,  1912: 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 139 

At   railway  station   at  Valencia,    March    25, 
1912 : 

President  of  the  State  of  Carabobo 140 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 142 

At  Puerto  Cabello,  March  25,  1912: 

Collector  of  Customs  of  Puerto  Cabello..  143 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 145 

VIII 

Speeches  in  the  Dominican  Republic 147-153 

Reception  by  President   of   Dominican   Re 
public,  March  27,  1912: 

Mr.  Philander  C.' Knox 149 

His    Excellency   President    Eladio  Vic 
toria  153 


CONTENTS.  VII 

IX  PAGE 

Speeches  in  Haiti 155-172 

Welcome   upon   arrival   at    Port   au    Prince, 
April  3,  1912: 

M.  Jerome  Salomon,  Mayor  of  Port  au 

Prince  157 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 159 

At  luncheon  given  by  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  April  3,  1912: 

Mr.  J.  N.  Leger 161 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 163 

At    banquet   given    by  President    of    Haiti, 
April  3,  1912: 

His  Excellency  President  Leconte 165 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 167 

At  Bellevue  Club,  April  4,  1912: 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 171 

X 

Speeches  in  Cuba 173-188 

At  banquet  given  by  President  of  Cuba,  Ha- 
bana,  April  n,  1912: 

His  Excellency  Senor  Manuel  Sanguily..  175 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 184 

XI 

Speeches  on  board  the  "Washington",  April  14, 

1912 189-202 

Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox 191 

Mr.  Hale,  of  the  World's  Work 194 

Hon.  Martin  W.  Littleton 197 

Judge  Morgan  O'Brien 200 

XII 

Statement  to  the  press  by  Mr.  Knox,  Washing 
ton,  April  17,  1912 203-208 


ITINERARY 


Date  of 
arrival. 


Date  of 
departure. 


Key  West,  Fla Feb.  23 

Colon,  Panama Feb.  27 

Panama  City,  Panama Feb.  27 

Colon,  Panama Feb.  29 

Port  Limon,  Costa  Rica i  Mar.    i 

San  Jose  de  Costa  Rica :  Mar.    i 

Puntarenas,  Costa  Rica Mar.    4 

Corinto,  Nicaragua Mar.    5 

Managua,  Nicaragua Mar.    5 

Corinto,  Nicaragua Mar.    7 

Amapala,  Honduras Mar.    8 

Acajutla,  Salvador Mar.  10 

San  Salvador,  Salvador Mar.  10 

Acajutla,  Salvador Mar.  13 

San  Jose  de  Guatemala |  Mar.  14 

Guatemala  City j  Mar.  14 

Puerto  Barrios,  Guatemala Mar.  17 

La  Guaira,  Venezuela |  Mar.  22 

Caracas,  Venezuela j  Mar.  22 

Puerto  Cabello,  Venezuela j  Mar.  25 

Santo  Domingo  City I  Mar.  27 

St.  Thomas !  Mar.  30 

Mar.  31 
Apr.  3 
Apr.  5 
Apr.  5 
Apr.  6 
Apr.  8 
Apr.  8 
Apr.  ii 


San  Juan,  Porto  Rico 

Port  au  Prince,  Haiti 

Guantanamo,  Cuba 

Santiago  de  Cuba 

Guantanamo,  Cuba 

Kingston,  Jamaica 

Port  Antonio,  Jamaica 

Habana,  Cuba 

Piney  Point,  Md j  Apr.  16 

Washington,  D.  C !  Apr.  17 


Feb.  23 

Feb.  27 

Feb.  29 

Feb.  29 

Mar.  i 
Mar. 
Mar. 
Mar. 
Mar. 
Mar. 

Mar.  9 

Mar.  10 

Mar.  13 

Mar.  13 

Mar.  14 

Mar.  17 

Mar. '  17 

Mar.  22 

Mar.  25 

Mar.  25 

Mar.  28 

Mar.  30 

Apr.  i 

Apr.  4 

Apr.  5 

Apr.  6 

Apr.  7 

Apr.  8 

Apr.  8 

Apr.  13 

Apr.  17 


VIII 


Speeches  in  Panama 


s  105 — i 


Address  of  ^welcome  of  Senor  Demosthenes  Arose- 
mena,  Governor  of  Colon  Province,  on  the  arrival 
of  the  Secretary  of  State  at  Colon,  February  2j, 


[Translation.] 

MR.  SECRETARY: 

As  the  representative  of  my  country's  Govern 
ment  in  this  part  of  the  Republic,  the  honor  of 
offering  you  a  cordial  greeting  upon  your  arrival  on 
our  shores  in  the  name  of  the  Panaman  nation 
devolves  upon  me. 

The  Panaman  nation,  to  whom  you  are  well 
known,  greets  in  you  an  eminent  statesman  of  a 
nation  which  marches  in  the  vanguard  of  the  civili 
zation  and  progress  of  the  American  continent,  and 
it  highly  appreciates  the  visit  of  so  distinguished  a 
guest. 

Panama,  to  whom  you  are  especially  persona 
grata,  regards  as  an  honor  the  presence  of  so  illustri 
ous  a  representative  of  the  great  American  Union, 
which,  in  an  hour  of  trial  for  the  Isthmians,  fearlessly 
assumed  before  the  world  an  obligation  which  it  has 
fulfilled,  and  will,  no  doubt,  in  the  future  most  loyally 
fulfill,  of  guaranteeing  and  maintaining  the  sover 
eignty  and  independence  of  the  youngest  Republic  of 
this  continent,  and  400,000  Panamans  are  at  this  mo 
ment  hoping  that  upon  leaving  our  shores  you  will 

3 


4  PANAMA. 

carry  with  you  as  agreeable  a  memory  of  the  coun 
try  as  your  visit  will  doubtless  leave  in  their  breasts. 
Welcome,  Mr.  Secretary,  to  this  Republic,  which 
gladly  contributes  to  the  aggrandizement  and  pros 
perity  of  your  country  with  the  only  thing  possi 
ble — with  its  territory. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


EXCELLENCY: 

In  the  name  of  the  people  of  the  United  States, 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  for  my  party, 
and  for  myself,  I  desire  to  express  to  you  our  deep 
gratitude  for  the  cordiality  of  this  welcome  when 
we  have  first  touched  the  shore  in  the  Republic 
of  Panama  and  in  the  ancient  city  named  for  the 
great  discoverer  of  America.  This  reception  is  ex 
tremely  flattering  to  me,  because  it  indicates  that 
the  people  of  Panama  respond  to  the  sentiment  that 
inspired  the  President  of  the  United  States,  and 
whose  inspiration  has  been  cordially  and  fully  in 
dorsed  by  the  people  of  the  United  States,  to  send 
me  hither  as  a  bearer  of  a  message  of  good  feeling, 
friendship,  and  kindliness  to  the  people  of  this  Re 
public  and  the  other  peoples  of  the  Caribbean  lit 
toral.  I  have  sincerely  to  thank  you  all  for  this 
manifestation  of  the  sympathy  which  is  thus  shown 
toward  us,  and  I  shall  repeat  to  you  only  what  I  have 
said  before — that  is,  thanks — which  I  am  sure  will 
find  a  response  in  the  hearts  of  the  American 
people. 


Speech  of  His  Excellency  A  ristides  Arjona,  Minister 
for  Foreign  Affairs  of  Panama,  at  a  dinner 
given  to  Mr.  Knox  at  Panama  City,  February 
28,  1912. 

[Translation.] 

MR.  SECRETARY  KNOX: 

When  the  cable  and  the  press  announced  a  few 
days  ago  your  visit  to  some  of  the  Central  and 
South  American  republics,  the  citizens  who  repre 
sent  the  brain  and  the  heart  of  these  nations,  as  if 
moved  by  a  single  potent  impulse,  made  ready  with 
their  eyes  fixed  upon  you,  who  can  not  be  other 
than  a  bearer  of  good  tidings  and  an  inspirer  of 
wholesome  political  policies  for  the  Latin-American 
countries. 

These  countries,  Mr.  Secretary,  relatively  young, 
as  compared  with  those  of  the  old  continent,  are 
eager,  in  this  delicate  period  of  their  existence, 
for  such  examples  and  teachings  as  may  be  offered 
by  your  great  nation,  which  holds  properly  the 
first  place  in  the  civilization  and  progress  of  this 
hemisphere. 

The  youth,  the  blood,  the  race,  and  the  idiosyn- 
cracies,  in  short,  of  these  countries  tend  to  make 
them  appear  impulsive  in  the  grave  questions  in 
which  a  solution  is  needed  for  complicated  social 
and  political  problems,  since,  in  truth,  opposing 
tendencies  and  judgments  degenerate  sometimes 

6 


ARJONA.  7 

into  internal  complications  with  prejudicial  conse 
quences  to  the  Latin-American  family.  On  the 
other  hand,  in  your  country,  the  United  States, 
the  model  Republic,  a  clear,  temperate  judgment, 
cold  as  the  snows  of  those  beautiful  latitudes,  can 
at  all  times  be  brought  to  bear  upon  the  series  of 
difficult  problems  which  present  themselves  to  the 
intelligence  and  activity  of  statesmen  like  your 
self;  and  therefore  Latin-American  nations,  guided 
by  a  common  purpose  to  become  great,  receive 
with  interest  and  pleasure  your  visit,  which  can 
have  no  other  object  than  to  stimulate  and  benefit 
them.  Considering  the  facts  thus,  I  do  not  hesitate 
to  acknowledge  that  only  a  noble  altruism  guides 
you,  that  only  lofty  ideals  inspire  your  acts,  and 
that  only  your  marked  interest  in  the  future  of  these 
entities  of  young  America  has  impelled  you  to  lay 
aside  your  delicate  and  multifarious  official  duties 
in  your  own  country  to  come  to  strengthen  the  ties 
of  friendship,  interest,  and  sympathy  which  join 
them  with  your  nation,  increasing  the  prestige  which 
has  been  attained  by  the  wise  diplomacy  of  North 
America. 

The  Republic  of  Panama,  mistress  of  the  two 
greatest  bodies  of  water  which  bathe  the  world,  has 
a  thousand  reasons  to  be  grateful  to  you  and  to 
your  Government,  and  to-day  has  another  reason 
in  considering  that  it  is  the  first  which  you  have 
chosen  to  honor  with  your  visit,  you  who  intend  to 
proceed  to  the  other  countries,  which  will  receive 
you  cordially,  as  an  illustrious  and  distinguished 


8  PANAMA. 

guest,  with  ovations  expressive  of  their  feelings. 
Panama  knows  that  your  mission  is  one  of  laudable 
patriotism  and  international  concord,  and  doubts  not 
that  it  will  also  know  how  to  respond  to  the  call  of 
American  confraternity  which  you  have  addressed 
to  it,  since  it  aspires  loyally  to  aid  you  in  the  work 
of  Pan-American  progress  which  you  carry  on  with 
such  success  and  which  will  make  your  name  im 
perishable  in  the  records  of  the  world  of  Columbus. 

You  know  well,  Mr.  Secretary,  that  the  Re 
public  of  Panama  will  always  be  in  accord  with 
your  lofty  views  of  international  policy.  A  thou 
sand  reasons  for  perpetual  gratitude  and  lasting 
union  bind  the  inhabitants  of  the  Isthmus  to  the 
American  Government  and  people;  therefore,  your 
triumphs  will  always  have  our  sincere  plaudits  and 
the  possibility  of  your  reverses  as  a  nation  will 
always  be  considered  by  us  as  a  personal  calamity. 

The  gigantic  work  of  the  Interoceanic  Canal, 
which  astonishes  the  whole  world,  is  the  principal' 
factor  in  the  community  of  interests  and  the  reci 
procity  of  sentiment  which  characterize  the  relations 
between  our  countries.  To  protect  this  great  work, 
which  is  already  nearing  conclusion,  the  Republic 
of  Panama  will  omit  neither  care  nor  effort,  since 
it  will  always  hold  in  remembrance  the  protection 
received  from  your  nation  when  it  took  its  first 
steps  as  a  sovereign  state  and  the  wise  purpose 
which  has  guided  your  country  in  all  the  acts  in 
which  its  assistance  has  been  necessary  to  secure 
the  benefits  acquired  with  our  independence. 


ARJONA.  9 

The  work  of  the  representatives  of  your  Gov 
ernment  in  this  Republic  and  in  the  Zone  of  the 
Canal  has  been  most  appropriate  and  beneficial. 
Confining  myself  to  the  present,  I  will  mention  the 
able  diplomat,  Mr.  Dodge,  who  maintains  upon  a 
high  plane  the  relations  between  both  countries. 
At  the  head  of  the  civil  administration,  Governor 
Thatcher  is  a  model  of  zeal  and  intelligence.  Col 
onel  Gorgas,  with  his  well-disciplined  officials  in 
the  sanitary  department,  has  effectively  removed 
the  dark  and  horrible  specter  of  epidemics;  and, 
finally,  Colonel  Goethals,  the  man  of  iron,  of  trained 
mentality,  of  never-sufficiently-praised  energy,  the 
supreme  director  of  the  stupendous  work  of  the 
canal,  with  his  constant  and  honorable  zeal  to  immor 
talize  the  name  of  the  United  States  in  that  of  the 
colossal  work,  offers  to  your  powerful  country  the 
splendid  spectacle,  which  all  powers  will  witness 
with  delight,  of  the  rapid  passage  of  ships  through 
the  channel  which  is  being  opened  by  the  unceasing 
blows  of  the  marvelous  arm  of  the  North  American 
Nation.  A  day  of  glory,  recorded  with  letters  of 
gold  in  the  annals  of  the  Republic  of  Panama,  will 
be  that  upon  which  traffic  through  the  new  road  is 
opened.  The  world,  astounded,  will  contemplate 
the  celebration  which  will  crown  the  glory  of  the 
people  and  Government  of  the  United  States  and 
which,  at  the  cost  of  enormous  sacrifice,  will  be  the 
most  valuable  offering  presented  upon  the  altar  of 
universal  progress. 


IO  PANAMA. 

Welcome,  therefore,  illustrious  Mr.  Secretary. 
Behold  in  the  people  of  the  Republic  of  Panama, 
which  has  for  you  the  immense  gratitude  of  the  pro 
tege",  more  than  a  friend,  a  true  brother;  and  in  the 
name  of  the  Government  and  of  all  the  citizens  of 
my  country  accept  this  modest  expression  of  appre 
ciation  and  sympathy  which  we  have  dedicated  to 
you  for  your  entertainment.  When  you  return  to 
your  country,  tell  the  American  Government  and 
people,  in  the  name  of  the  Republic  of  Panama,  that 
we,  the  people  of  the  Isthmus,  are  bound  to  them 
with  the  same  ties,  with  the  same  eternal  bonds, 
with  which  at  no  distant  time,  to  the  astonishment 
of  the  world  and  for  all  eternity,  the  deep,  blue 
waters  of  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific  will  be  united. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


MR.  PRESIDENT,  LADIES,  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

It  is  an  honor  and  a  sincere  pleasure  to  be  your 
guest  and  the  recipient  of  the  cordial  welcome  of 
Panama.  It  is  a  privilege  to  stand  upon  the 
threshold  of  the  consummation  of  the  greatest 
work  done  by  man  in  or  for  the  world  and  to  feel 
that  one  is  not  a  stranger  upon  the  soil  dedicated 
from  the  creation  to  be  the  scene  of  the  supreme 
effort  for  human  advancement  when  man's  require 
ments  demanded  it  and  man's  genius  should  be 
equal  to  the  task. 

When  the  necessities  of  the  world's  first  civili 
zation  could  be  no  longer  supplied  and  its  aspira 
tions  no  longer  satisfied  in  its  oriental  abode  it  was 
natural  that  the  pioneers  of  those  days  should  make 
their  first  explorations  by  following  the  path  of  the 
life-giving  sun  in  its  daily  journeys  toward  the 
West. 

The  fruits  of  their  first  timid  ventures  em 
boldened  them  to  more  ambitious  endeavor,  and 
the  ever-increasing  rewards  resulting  from  the  dis 
covery  of  continents  and  seas  beckoned  them  on 
until,  halted  here  by  another  world,  they  seemed  to 
have  fulfilled  their  mission  of  companion  discov 
erers  with  the  sun,  which  passed  on  in  solitude 
toward  and  into  the  unknown. 


I  2  PANAMA 

It  was  not  until  1513,  when  Balboa  stood  "silent 
upon  a  peak  in  Darien"  and  gazed  upon  the  waters 
of  the  Pacific,  that  it  was  evident  that  the  hand  that 
gave  the  seas  and  formed  the  land  left  it  possible 
to  divide  the  hemisphere  which  halted  western 
progress,  even  as  Moses  had  divided  the  Red  Sea 
that  the  children  of  Israel  might  pass,  and  though 
the  hands  of  the  early  navigators  were  unskilled 
for  the  gigantic  task  their  imaginations  grasped 
the  possibility  of  its  successful  realization. 

The  history  of  the  project  to  build  an  isthmian 
canal  is  full  of  strange  national  and  personal  disap 
pointments.  Perhaps  the  most  tragic  of  them  all 
is  that,  coincident  with  Spain's  loss  of  the  last 
vestige  of  her  sovereignty  in  the  New  World,  the 
final  act  of  the  realization  of  the  dreams  of  her 
great  navigators  began. 

After  many  vicissitudes  and  failures  the  comple 
tion  of  this  stupendous  work  devolved  upon  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  who  are  thus  thrown 
into  relations  with  the  countries  of  the  isthmian 
region  which,  with  our  geographical  propinquity, 
make  a  broader  understanding  and  a  more  sympa 
thetic  reciprocal  interest  between  us  an  essential 
basis  for  the  realization  of  the  splendid  possibilities 
which  seem  to  have  been  decreed  from  the  begin 
ning  of  time. 

The  President  of  the  United  States  believes 
that  the  early  completion  of  the  Panama  Canal 
should  mark  the  beginning  of  closer  relations  to 
all  Latin  America,  and  especially  to  the  Caribbean 


KNOX.  13 

littoral,  as  well  as  the  relations  of  these  countries  to 
each  other,  and,  impelled  by  the  thought  that  this 
is  an  auspicious  moment,  through  better  acquaint 
ance,  to  lay  the  foundations  upon  which  there 
should  rest  a  broader  confidence,  a  closer  sympathy, 
and  more  practical  reciprocal  helpfulness,  has  sent 
me  hither  as  a  bearer  of  a  message  of  good  will  to 
our  sister  American  republics.  It  is  the  Presi 
dent's  desire  that  I  might  personally  meet  your 
most  hospitable  peoples,  might  see  for  myself  your 
beautiful  countries,  with  their  boundless  resources 
and  economic  possibilities,  to  the  end  that  such  di 
rect  personal  knowledge,  understanding,  and  appre 
ciation  might  result  in  mutual  advantage  and  in  co 
operation  for  the  development  of  all  our  countries. 
Responding  to  the  hospitality  of  the  country  which 
has  first  and  so  generously  received  me  and  with 
which  the  relations  of  my  country  are  so  cordially 
intimate,  I  take  this  opportunity  of  assuring  all  the 
American  republics  that  the  purpose  of  the  United 
States  toward  them  is  that  we  should  live  in  amity 
and  essential  harmony  and  that  we  desire  only  that 
more  peace,  more  prosperity,  more  happiness,  and 
more  security  should  come  in  and  become  a  part  of 
their  individual  and  national  lives. 

While  it  is  entirely  clear  to  those  who  have 
fairly  and  intelligently  considered  the  history  of  the 
relations  of  the  United  States  to  the  other  Ameri 
can  republics  that  our  politics  have  been  without 
a  trace  of  sinister  motive  or  design,  craving  neither 
sovereignty  nor  territory,  yet  it  is  true  that  our  mo- 


14  PANAMA. 

tives  toward  you  have  not  always  been  fortunately 
interpreted  either  at  home  or  faithfully  represented 
by  some  of  our  nationals  who  have  resided  in  your 
midst.. 

While  we  have  much  to  learn  of  each  other  and 
are  all  to  be  vastly  profited  by  clear  and  more  sym 
pathetic  ties,  yet  between  the  elder  and  the  younger 
republics  there  is  much  in  common. 

A  commonwealth  founded  on  freedom  of  con 
science  and  security  of  individual  rights  is  not  an 
exclusive  heritage  of  Saxon  America,  but  one  shared 
by  all  the  peoples  of  the  hemisphere  who,  like  our 
selves,  have  passed  through  the  sore  trials  that 
attend  the  founding  of  new  communities  in  a  new 
land.  However  diverse  our  physical  environments, 
however  great  the  contrast  between  the  natural 
obstacles  to  be  surmounted,  whether  amid  the  snows 
and  pine  forests  of  the  north  or  in  the  sierras  of 
the  Equator  and  the  pampas  of  the  south,  the 
aim  of  our  respective  enterprises,  expressed  in  the 
undying  words  of  Lincoln,  has  been  the  same,  to 
bring  forth  on  this  continent  new  nations,  conceived 
in  liberty  and  dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all 
men  are  created  equal. 

Much  has  been  said  about  the  effect  of  the  open 
ing  of  the  Panama  Canal,  but  I  believe  it  is  given 
to  few  of  us  to  realize  what  magic  possibilities  are 
potential  in  that  event.  As  I  conceive  it,  it  will 
create  for  our  Western  World  an  entirely  new  situa 
tion,  a  situation  fraught  with  possibilities  so  vast 
they  daze  the  fancy  of  the  mind.  In  this  new 


KNOX.  15 

world  we  must  be  found  drawn  closer  by  sympathies 
and  mutual  esteem,  and  working  in  harmony  toward 
beneficent  ends.  /  This  must  be  so,  for  our  greatest 
interests  are  those  that  are  common  to  us  all.  We 
who  live  on  the  Western  Hemisphere  find  ourselves 
by  force  of  geography  in  circumstances  which  make 
our  situation  peculiar,  and  this  fundamental  fact 
gives  us  privileges  and  imposes  upon  us  duties  and 
obligations  we  would  not  otherwise  have.  It  was 
a  perception  of  this,  which  your  own  thinkers  and 
statesmen  have  seen  as  clearly  as  our  own,  which 
prompted  the  announcement  by  President  Monroe 
of  the  great  and  beneficent  policy  that  now  bears 
his  name.  When  the  canal  is  opened  and  the  ships 
of  all  the  countries  of  the  world  come  sailing  through 
these  Carib  seas,  the  peculiarity  of  our  position  with 
its  special  requirement  will  be  accentuated  and  the 
wisdom  of  that  doctrine  confirmed  again  and  spe 
cially.  It  serves  admittedly  your  interests  as  much 
as  ours.  Even  now  it  is  a  great  bond  between 
us.  In  its  future  amplification  I  perceive  it  will  be 
a  common  heritage  binding  together  the  nations  of 
this  hemisphere  with  a  force  no  power  can  break, 
and  while  it  has  in  Providence  been  given  to  us  of 
the  north  to  state  and  interpret  it,  it  has  never  been 
invoked  to  the  detriment  of  the  people  of  the  south 
or  operated  to  their  hurt. 

In  my  judgment  the  Monroe  Doctrine  will  reach 
the  acme  of  its  beneficence  when  it  is  regarded  by 
the  people  of  the  United  States  as  a  reason  why  we 
should  constantly  respond  to  the  needs  of  those  of 


1 6  PANAMA. 

our  Latin-American  neighbors  who  may  find  neces 
sity  for  our  assistance  in  their  progress  toward  bet 
ter  government  or  who  may  seek  our  aid  to  meet 
their  just  obligations  and  thereby  to  maintain  hon 
orable  relations  to  the  family  of  nations.*  Great 
as  will  be  the  glory  of  having  physically  divided  a 
hemisphere,  a  greater  glory  will  be  to  have  con 
tributed  to  the  unity,  happiness,  and  prosperity  of 
its  people. 

It  is  a  paradox  that  the  severance  of  the  physical 
ligament  that  joins  the  two  continents  of  the  New 
World  will  more  closely  unite  them.  Culebra  is 
the  clot  in  the  artery  of  intercourse  whose  removal 
will  give  free  and  full  circulation  throughout  the 
whole  organism  to  the  vivifying  currents  of  friend 
ship,  peace,  commerce,  and  prosperity. 

When  the  waters  of  the  two  oceans  are  blended 
on  the  soil  of  Panama  it  will  make  curious  changes 
in  the  geography  of  the  Americas.  All  that  is  south 
of  the  Isthmus  will  be  nearer  to  all  that  is  north, 
and  all  that  is  north  will,  in  a  peculiar  sense,  be 
more  closely  drawn  together.  The  Central  Ameri 
can  republics  will  be  the  tropical  end  of  a  vast 
island  whose  northern  limits  will  extend  to  the 
eternal  ice  and  whose  southern  boundary  will  be  a 
continuous  procession  of  the  commerce  of  the  world. 


II 


Speeches  in  Costa  Rica 


S  105 2  I7 


Speech  of  His  Excellency  Ricardo  Jimenez,  Presi 
dent  of  Costa  Rica,  at  a  dinner  given  to  Mr. 
Knox  at  San  Jose1,  March  j>,  1912. 


[Translation.*] 

You  are  welcome  to  Costa  Rica,  distinguished 
representative  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
that  friendly  country  that  from  remote  times  and  in 
a  variety  of  ways  has  exercised  such  a  far-reaching 
influence  over  the  destinies  of  this  Republic. 

A  little  time  after  the  thirteen  colonies,  accord 
ing  to  the  terms  of  your  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence,  "assumed,  among  the  powers  of  the  earth,  the 
separate  and  equal  station  to  which  the  laws  of  nature 
and  of  nature's  God  entitle  them",  the  Spanish  col 
onies,  stirred  up  by  the  revolutionary  fermentation 
of  the  north  and  encouraged  by  your  noble  exam 
ple,  repeated  and  made  good  your  words,  applying 
them  to  themselves,  declaring  that  "they  were,  and 
of  right  ought  to  be,  free  and  independent  States"; 
and  so  it  was,  sir,  that  Costa  Rica,  without  hatred 
toward  and  even  without  disaffection  for  Spain, 
and  carried  along  by  the  wave  of  emancipation  that 
swept  over  the  New  World  from  Massachusetts  to 
the  Argentine,  abandoned  her  secular  vassalage  and 
assumed  the  sovereign  arbitration  of  her  destiny. 

*  Translation  furnished  by  Costa  Rican  Government. 

19 


2O  COSTA    RICA. 

Nevertheless,  it  was  very  possible,  above  all  in 
Central  America,  that  our  exercise  of  sovereignty 
would  only  have  been  a  momentary  eclipse  of  Euro 
pean  domination,  of  this  or  that  state,  if  it  had  not 
been  for  the  joint  Anglo-American  action  and  if 
the  United  States  had  not  pronounced  in  1823, 
through  the  mouth  of  President  Monroe,  its  for 
midable  veto.  The  American  Eagle  then  spread 
its  wings  over  this  continent  and  in  its  flight  joined 
that  of  the  "nopal"  and  the  condors  of  the  south. 
And  from  that  epoch  the  schemes  of  conquest  or 
reconquest  of  the  ancient  colonies  were  consigned 
to  the  dominions  of  things  past  and  gone  forever. 

But  there  is  another  benefit  that  we  owe  to  your 
country,  the  greatest  of  all,  without  which  all  others 
would  be  mere  dross:  We  have  cast  our  institutions 
in  the  moulding-sand  of  yours.  In  our  first  at 
tempts  in  the  exercise  of  self-government — the  only 
kind  that  deserves  the  decorous  respect  of  men — we 
learned  to  spell  in  your  famous  document  of  Decla 
ration  of  Independence  that  "all  men  are  created 
equal,  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with 
certain  unalienable  rights,  that  among  these  are  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness";  and  consist 
ent  with  these  fundamental  principles,  as  incon 
trovertible  now  at  the  beginning  of  the  twentieth 
century  as  they  were  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth,  we 
regulated  our  political  system,  and  within  that  sys 
tem  the  smallest  Republic  of  this  hemisphere  lives 
happily,  "without  envying  others  or  being  envied 
by  them",  in  the  same  manner  as  your  wonderful 


JIMENEZ.  21 

country,  enjoying  all  the  privileges  of  that  same 
system,  also  lives  felicitously,  a  palpable  demonstra 
tion  that  self-government,  with  powers  distributed 
and  limited,  with  liberty  of  speech  and  a  free  press, 
of  effective  and  extensive  individual  rights,  a  gov 
ernment  that  derives  its  just  powers  from  the  con 
sent  of  the  governed,  is  beneficent  everywhere— 
at  least  in  America — with  that  same  universality  of 
the  mathematical  laws  that  are  equally  appropriate 
for  fixing  the  course  of  the  planets  as  they  are  for 
arranging  the  most  humble  transactions  of  men. 

I  hope,  sir,  that  the  personal  knowledge  of  our 
institutions  and  customs  may  excite  in  you  a  feel 
ing  of  true  pride  and  pleasure  on  seeing  many  of 
the  seeds  of  good  government  bearing  fruit  in  this 
little  corner  of  America,  snatched  from  your  fields 
of  liberty  by  the  winds  that  carry  civilization  from 
country  to  country,  and  dropped  by  them  here  and 
there  in  all  parts  of  the  world. 

There  will  be  perpetual  peace  between  the 
United  States  and  the  Republic  of  Costa  Rica! 
These  were  the  prophetic  words  of  Daniel  Webster, 
stamped  on  the  treaty  of  1851,  which  bears  his 
signature.  Consecrated  by  the  lapse  of  time  the 
things  that  have  happened  since  then  have  con 
firmed  this  prophesy.  Our  mutual  relations  of 
countrymen  with  countrymen  have  grown  in  a  con 
stant  manner.  We  sell  in  the  markets  of  the 
United  States  60  per  cent  of  our  exportations,  and 
in  exchange  we  buy  in  them  60  per  cent  of  the 
articles  that  Costa  Rica  imports.  This  present 


22  COSTA    RICA. 

condition  of  reciprocity  is  an  excellent  sign  that 
prognosticates  the  firmness  of  our  future  relations. 
In  negotiating,  we  enter  into  mutual  relations  with 
others,  and  to  have  amicable  intercourse  with  others 
is  to  be  known,  to  be  appreciated,  and  to  consoli 
date  friendships.  Attracted  by  the  fertility  of  our 
soils  and  the  riches  of  our  mines,  and,  I  presume, 
attracted  also  by  our  peacefulness  and  by  the 
respect  we  show  to  strangers,  their  properties  and 
creeds,  you  will  find  here  a  great  number  of  your 
fellow  countrymen  managing  large  capitals  of  their 
own  or  of  persons  who  reside  in  the  United  States. 
Far  from  frowning  upon  their  good  luck,  we  are 
pleased  to  see  it;  and  as  their  gains  are  not  derived 
through  legislative  favors,  their  prosperity  does  not 
diminish,  but,  on  the  contrary,  helps  to  augment 
vigorously  the  prosperity  of  the  nation. 

Lastly,  Mr.  Secretary,  it  is  not  possible  to  pass 
over  in  silence  that  share  which,  through  our  initia 
tive  and  confident  acts,  your  country  has  taken  in 
the  limitation  of  the  territory  of  this  Republic.  An 
American  hand,  the  just  hand  of  Mr.  Cleveland,  of 
blessed  memory,  marked  our  boundaries  on  the 
north;  and  another  American  hand,  the  hand  of 
Mr.  White,  in  which  hangs,  happily  for  you  and 
also  for  us,  the  scales  of  justice,  will  trace  our  south 
ern  frontier.  In  the  arrangement  that  Costa  Rica 
and  Panama  made  to  this  effect,  you  put,  out  of 
consideration  to  both  parties,  the  valuable  contin 
gent  of  your  skill,  your  benevolence  and  friendly 
interest,  and  I  am  delighted  to  be  able  to  take 


JIMENEZ.  23 

advantage  of  this  occasion  to  express  to  you  by  word 
of  mouth  the  profound  gratitude  that  from  that 
time  we  Costa  Ricans  owe  to  you,  a  gratitude  that 
expands,  now  that  we  find  ourselves  honored  with 
your  visit.  And  I  am  confident  that  this  advent 
of  yours  will  leave  in  us  a  wake  of  fellow  feeling, 
not  like  that  made  by  the  furrow  that  the  ship  forms 
in  the  waters,  to  be  destroyed  by  them  immediately 
afterwards,  but  a  wake  as  wide  and  luminous  as  it  is 
permanent. 

Based  in  these  antecedents  is  inspired  the  cor 
diality  with  which  I  drink  your  health,  Mr.  Secretary, 
and  also  that  of  President  Taft,  and  in  the  same 
way  the  health  of  the  people  of  the  United  States; 
and  as  that  great  country  does  not  now  see  in  any 
quarter  a  cloud  that  may  darken  the  splendor  of  its 
power,  I  hope  that  it  may  never  see  the  refulgent 
sun  of  justice  eclipsed  on  its  horizons,  so  that  its 
greatness  and  moderation,  without  losing  their 
force  for  a  moment,  may  continue  shining  over  the 
world  until  the  end  of  time. 

To  your  health,  Mr.  Secretary. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


MR.  PRESIDENT,  LADIES,  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

It  is  indeed  a  pleasure  for  me,  Mr.  President,  to 
acknowledge  how  deeply  I  appreciate  the  generous 
sentiment  you  have  proposed  and  the  honor  you  do 
me,  and  through  me  the  American  people,  by  show 
ering  upon  me  your  bounteous  and  cordial  hospi 
tality,  thereby  evincing  your  sympathetic  response 
to  the  spirit  which  has  inspired  my  mission  to  you. 
I  know  that  I  am  acknowledging  no  feigned  friend 
ship  or  simulated  courtesy,  but  that  the  great  heart  of 
Costa  Rica  has  responded  to  the  heart  of  her  most 
northern  sister  republic.  The  similarity  of  our 
political  organizations,  our  geographical  proximity, 
the  tendency  of  our  commercial  and  industrial  inter 
ests  and  policies,  and  our  traditional  and  long-con 
tinued  relations  of  friendship  and  good  will  inspired 
in  the  President  of  the  United  States  the  sincere 
desire  that  our  sympathies,  cooperation,  and  good 
understanding  should  increase,  and  for  that  reason 
he  directed  me  to  visit  the  Republic  of  Costa  Rica 
and  our  other  sister  republics  in  the  region  of  the 
Caribbean  Sea,  in  order  that  I  might  carry  to  them 
a  message  of  good  will  from  the  people  and  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States,  and,  further,  that  I 
might  make  that  personal  acquaintance  with  your 
public  men  and  hospitable  peoples  to  the  end  that 
24 


KNOX.  25 

such  direct  personal  knowledge  and  understanding 
and  appreciation  might  result  in  mutual  advantage 
and  cooperation  for  the  advancement  of  our  com 
mon  interests. 

It  was  with  a  feeling  of  genuine  wonder  and 
admiration  that  I  arrived  at  your  capital  city  after 
the  marvelous  ride  from  the  coast,  along  the  won 
derful  Revantazon,  following  its  tortuous  and  diffi 
cult  windings  through  the  most  beautiful  tropical 
foliage  until,  arriving  at  the  highlands,  the  verdure 
of  the  Temperate  Zone  at  once  met  the  eye.  The 
ability  to  make  this  journey  in  so  much  comfort 
was,  Mr.  President,  a  suggestion  of  what  the  Costa 
Ricans  hatfe  accomplished  along  other  lines,  and 
fully  prepared  me  for  the  abundant  evidences  of  the 
industry,  thrift,  tenacity,  and  culture  of  your  people 
which  I  met  at  every  hand. 

It  is  with  a  feeling  of  gratified  expectancy  that 
one  finds  at  every  turn  expressions  of  the  tradi 
tional  love  of  your  people  for  education,  not  only 
in  its  practical  forms,  but  for  the  higher  arts,  nota 
bly  architecture  and  music,  and  to  see  in  the  happy 
and  radiant  faces  of  the  children  the  reflection  of 
the  beauty  of  their  mothers  and  sturdy  qualities 
of  their  fathers. 

It  is  given  to  few  countries  to  make  the  just 
boast  that  within  her  borders  the  school-teachers 
outnumber  the  soldiers  and  that  resting  upon  her 
bosom  in  the  very  center  of  America  is  the  first 
perfect  type  of  an  international  court  of  arbitral 
justice. 


26  COSTA    RICA. 

The  attitude  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  toward  the  peaceful  settlement  of  interna 
tional  disputes,  of  which  this  court  forms  a  model, 
has  been  consistently  maintained  since  the  founda 
tion  of  our  Government,  as  is  evidenced  by  the 
Treaty  of  Ghent.  The  attitude  of  the  Republic  of 
Costa  Rica  has  likewise  been  consistent  and  is  am 
ply  evidenced  by  the  course  adopted  for  the  settle 
ment  of  the  century-old  boundary  dispute  with 
Panama.  I  repeat,  Mr.  President,  that  the  people 
of  Costa  Rica  may  justly  felicitate  themselves  that 
in  their  very  midst  is  the  home  of  the  Central 
American  Court  of  Justice,  the  one  tribunal  before 
which  one  nation  may  bring  another— yes,  before 
which  an  individual  may  bring  a  nation  to  deter 
mine  before  the  bar  of  impartial  justice  the  differ 
ences  that  exist  between  them.  My  Government 
and,  I  am  sure,  the  Government  of  Mexico  feel 
proud  of  the  part  played  by  them  in  the  Central 
American  Peace  Conference,  convoked  under  their 
auspices,  out  of  which  grew  this  international  fo 
rum,  which  is  the  prototype  of  the  court  it  has  long 
been  the  desire  of  the  United  States  to  see  estab 
lished  by  the  nations  of  the  earth.  In  this  connec 
tion,  Mr.  President,  let  me  express  the  feeling  of 
profound  satisfaction  that  the  people  and  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  entertain,  not  only  be 
cause  of  the  rapidly  increasing  prosperity  of  Costa 
Rica,  but  because  of  her  love  for  peace,  because  of 
the  respect  she  inspires  in  the  family  of  nations, 
because  she  has  laid  the  foundations  of  perpetual 


KNOX.  27 

freedom  upon  the  eternal  rock  of  justice  and  occu 
pies  an  exceptional  and  enviable  position  among 
the  American  republics  and  to  the  general  distribu 
tion  of  property  among  her  people,  and  because  of 
the  constantly  increasing  intimacy  and  friendliness 
between  her  people  and  our  own. 

It  is  but  a  short  time,  Mr.  President,  until  at 
Panama  a  new  highway  of  commerce  will  be  opened 
to  the  world.  That  event,  so  conspicuous  and  sig 
nificant,  will  remove  the  countries  of  the  Caribbean 
Sea  from  their  comparative  isolation  and  place  them 
upon  the  greatest  highway  on  the  globe,  a  highway 
from  the  northern  to  the  southern,  from  the  west 
ern  to  the  eastern  world.  The  republics  of  this 
hemisphere  will  be  thrown  into  a  new  day  and  a 
new  condition.  It  would  be  folly  to  enter  that 
new  day  without  a  proper  conception  of  its  oppor 
tunities  and  possibilities  for  our  common  good. 
We  should  go  into  the  new  epoch  as  befits  it,  with 
new  aspirations  and  enthusiasms  and  with  greater 
promise.  The  casual  relations  which  once  marked 
our  intercourse  are  now  happily  not  casual,  but  they 
must  be  closer  and  more  friendly  still — so  close, 
indeed,  that  as  we  labor  to  better  human  conditions 
this  common  end  will  be  a  bond  of  trust  and  hope. 

I  bear  you,  then,  not  only  a  message  of  good 
will,  but  one  bespeaking  a  mutual  understanding 
and  union  in  aspiration  and  effort  toward  further 
ing  the  progress  of  the  Western  World  through 
deeds  of  reciprocal  helpfulness. 


28  COSTA    RICA. 

The  free  and  equal  republics  which  have  estab 
lished  themselves  upon  this  hemisphere  have  a  sin 
gular  harmony  of  destiny,  and  that  is  to  bring  their 
common  form  of  government  to  the  highest  point 
of  efficiency  for  the  maintenance  of  popular  rights. 
The  greatest  strength  of  these  republics,  whose  her 
itage  is  so  wonderful,  lies  in  unity  of  aim  and  effort. 

While  we  will  all  be  more  or  less,  in  the  future 
as  in  the  past,  engrossed  in  questions  affecting  our 
internal  development  and  our  own  acute  problems, 
it  is  wise  to  seize  every  opportunity  to  impress 
upon  the  world  and  upon  ourselves  that  ours  is  a 
Pan-American  union  of  lofty  Pan-American  public 
opinion,  doing  justice  and  exacting  justice,  disclaim 
ing  ignoble  suspicion,  and  putting  to  scorn  interna 
tional  acts  of  unworthiness  when,  unhappily,  they 
may  be  found  among  us. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  propose  the  health,  the 
happiness,  and  the  prosperity  of  the  President  and 
people  of  Costa  Rica. 


Speech  of  Mr.  Knox  at  a  luncheon  given  on  board 
the  "Maryland"  at  Puntarenas,  Costa  Rica, 
March  4,  1912. 


LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

Of  course  the  thing  that  we  would  love  the 
most  would  be  to  say  that  now  we  are  welcoming 
you  to  the  shores  of  our  country,  as  you  have  wel 
comed  me  and  my  party  to  yours,  but  as  this  seems 
to  be  a  physical  impossibility  the  next  best  thing  is 
to  welcome  you  to  the  decks  of  an  American  ship, 
which,  in  a  sense,  is  American  soil. 

I  want  to  tell  you  in  all  sincerity  and  from  the 
bottom  of  my  heart  that  when  from  the  quarter-deck 
of  the  Maryland  we  view  the  disappearing  shores 
of  your  hospitable  land  we  will  not  only  carry  with 
us  deep  regret  at  parting,  but  lasting  memories  of 
your  cordial  hospitality  and  kindness  to  us  while 
we  were  here,  and  as  a  parting  toast  I  propose  the 
health,  the  prosperity,  good  fortune  in  all  things, 
and  the  perpetuity  of  your  Republic;  the  beauty 
and  grace  of  your  women,  the  valor,  industry, 
thrift,  and  tenacity  of  your  men,  Costa  Rica,  and 

her  people. 

29 


Ill 


Speeches  in  Nicaragua 


Speech    of  Mr.   Knox   at  the  railroad  station   at 
Managua,  Nicaragua,  March  5,  1912* 


MR.   MAYOR,   LADIES,  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

My  especial  regret  at  this  moment  is  that  I  have 
not  an  acquaintance  with  the  beautiful  language  of 
your  good  people  which  will  enable  me  to  respond 
in  fitting  terms  to  your  words  of  welcome.  I  can 
not  take  any  other  meaning  from  them,  however, 
than  that  you  have  extended  to  me  a  kindly  greet 
ing,  and  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  my  country 
and  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  I  sincerely 
thank  you.  It  is  not  only  a  privilege  to  be  here, 
but  a  great  satisfaction  to  stand  in  this  capital  city 
and  look  into  the  eyes  of  the  people  for  whom  my 
friendship  has  always  been  great.  I  appreciate  the 
honor  that  was  done  me  by  the  citizens  of  Nicara 
gua  in  sending  to  the  seashore  so  many  of  your  dis 
tinguished  men  and  beautiful  women  to  greet  us  at 
the  threshold  of  your  country,  and  I  am  sincerely 
thankful  to  the  municipal  authorities  of  the  city  of 
Managua,  as  well  as  the  authorities  of  the  Republic, 
not  only  for  myself  but  for  my  party,  for  my  peo 
ple,  and  for  my  President  for  the  great  cordiality 
you  have  shown  me. 

*The  Secretary  did  not  receive  a  copy  of  the  speech  to  which  this  is 
a  reply. 

TO 

s  105 3 


Speech  of  His  Excellency  Adolf o  Diaz,  President 
of  Nicaragua,  welcoming  Mr.  Knox,  Managua, 
March  6,  1912. 


[Translation.] 

HONORABLE  SECRETARY  KNOX: 

You  are  in  a  country  where  your  name  has  long 
been  known,  because  on  a  memorable  occasion  for 
our  liberty  you  linked  it  with  the  history  of  our 
struggles  for  advancement  by  an  act  of  justice  of 
the  American  Government,  inspired  by  the  senti 
ment  of  that  great  people  which  abhors  tyranny 
not  only  within  its  own  frontiers,  but  in  every 
place  to  which  it  may  carry  the  beneficent  influ 
ence  of  its  policy. 

As  an  admirer  of  that  policy  by  reason  of  its 
evident  results  in  other  fortunate  Latin  countries, 
I  live  in  the  firm  intention  of  accepting  that  friendly 
influence  so  long  as  I  myself  have  any  influence 
in  the  destinies  of  my  country,  whether  as  a  ruler 
or  as  a  citizen. 

Unfortunate  has  been  the  existence  of  Central 
American  democracy.  A  prolonged  and  bloody 
struggle  has  consumed  the  vigorous  life  of  these 
nations  during  almost  an  entire  century  of  sterile 
uprisings.  To  refer  only  to  my  own  country;  it 
has  been  a  republic  for  almost  a  hundred  years 
without  having  known  republican  methods  in  all 

34 


DIAZ.  35 

that  time,  except  at  brief  intervals.  Our  political 
struggles  have  unfortunately  not  been  a  luminous 
contest  of  ideas  and  principles;  they  have  been  a 
terrible  duel  between  despotism,  on  one  hand,  and, 
on  the  other,  the  ill-directed  efforts  of  the  people  in 
search  of  happiness  never  attained — a  duel,  a  hor 
rible  duel,  which  has  at  length  left  the  Republic, 
if  not  dead,  at  least  almost  utterly  exhausted. 
JJ  Horrible  disasters  have  happened  among  us 
which  have  been  viewed,  if  not  with  indifference, 
at  least  with  passive  calmness  by  the  rest  of  the 
civilized  world,  because  in  international  regulations 
the  egotistical  doctrine  has  prevailed  that  in  the 
matter  of  good  government  each  nation  should 
concern  itself  only  with  its  own  people,  as  if  those 
who  suffer  the  oppression  of  tyranny  were  not 
human  beings,  like  other  unfortunates  to  whom 
succor  is  never  denied  among  Christians.  This 
doctrine,  thanks  principally  to  the  United  States, 
is  disappearing  among  nations  to  give  place  to  the 
more  generous  one  of  mutual  assistance. 

In  the  light  of  these  principles  I  entered  the 
revolution  of  Bluefields  with  firm  faith,  a  faith 
maintained  unchanged  even  amidst  the  greatest 
vicissitudes  of  that  terrible  war,  because  I  knew 
that  we  were  engaged  not  in  one  of  the  many  up 
risings,  vain  efforts,  common  in  our  disorganization, 
without  positive  results,  but  in  a  real  revolution, 
an  absolute  overthrow  not  only  of  the  despot  but 
also  of  his  baneful  system,  and  thereafter  a  triumph 


36  NICARAGUA. 

of  justice  and  the  establishment  of  order  and  last 
ing  peace  in  Nicaragua.  // 

I  knew  then,  and  I  believe  to-day,  notwith 
standing  my  transition  from  a  revolutionist  to  a 
member  of  the  Government,  that  this  happy  out 
come  can  not  be  obtained  without  the  assistance 
of  your  country.  We  are  weak  and  we  need  your 
strong  help  for  the  regeneration  of  our  debilitated 
land.  The  hand  which  your  Government  gener 
ously  and  fraternally  extends  to  us  I  accept  without 
reserve  or  fear,  for  I  know  it  belongs  to  a  people 
which  has  made  a  religion  of  liberty  and,  educated 
in  and  for  freedom,  loves  its  independence  above 
everything  and  respects  the  independence  of  others. 

In  this  work  for  the  welfare  of  Nicaragua,  in 
creasing  the  hope  of  its  ultimate  success,  your  name 
is  pledged.  It  has  been  connected,  to  the  joy  of 
our  people,  with  two  of  our  principal  events:  With 
your  famous  note,  in  which,  as  the  mouthpiece  of 
civilization,  you  pronounced  the  doom  of  tyranny 
before  the  world,  and  writh  the  treaty  you  signed  in 
Washington  with  our  Minister  Castrillo,  the  clauses 
of  which  are  a  guaranty  of  peace,  the  basis  of  a 
future  of  prosperity  and  order,  and  the  confirma 
tion  of  which  by  the  American  Senate  all  good 
Nicaraguans  are  to-day  anxiously  awaiting  in  order 
to  enter  tranquilly  upon  the  enjoyment  of  their 
assured  rights  and  the  anticipation  of  that  future 
of  development  and  wealth. 

The  name  of  your  worthy  President,  William 
H.  Taft,  and  your  own  name  are  pronounced  by  all 


DIAZ.  37 

Nicaraguans,  from  the  statesman  to  the  humblest 
countryman,  as  though  they  were  names  of  person 
ages  of  our  fatherland,  due  to  the  fact  that  every  day 
the  bonds  are  becoming  closer  between  your  great 
and  happy  country  and  my  own  small  country, 
worthy,  however,  of  equal  happiness  because  it  con 
sists  of  a  generous  race  inhabiting  a  rich  soil. 

This  sincere  friendship  between  the  powerful 
and  the  weak  is  meritorious  for  both — for  the  one 
because  of  its  altruism ;  for  the  other  because  of  its 
confidence.  Yes,  sir,  unlimited  confidence  in  the 
proven  morality  of  the  American  Government,  and 
even  greater  confidence  in  the  people  of  your  great 
nation,  who  in  every  circumstance  would  be  the 
first  and  most  earnest  defenders  of  justice  for  the 
weak,  even  against  their  own  Government. 

In  this  new  political  life  of  Nicaragua,  which, 
scarcely  begun,  is  already  showing  the  effect  of 
almost  forgotten  liberties — in  this  work  of  regen 
eration  you  have  been  one  of  the  most  active 
agents,  bringing  to  us  at  this  opportune  moment  of 
our  transformation  the  influence  of  your  power 
without  offending  us  with  your  strength.  For  this 
reason  you  may  count  upon  firm  affection  in  Nica 
ragua;  for  this  reason  you  are  received  like  an  old 
acquaintance,  and  I,  in  the  name  of  the  people  and 
of  the  Government  of  Nicaragua,  greet  you  cor 
dially,  and  hope  your  sojourn  may  be  pleasant  in 
this  country,  where  your  name  signifies  an  ideal. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


MR.  PRESIDENT,  LADIES,  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

On  behalf  of  the  Government  and  people  of  the 
United  States  permit  me  to  express  my  sincere 
appreciation  and  thanks  for  your  kindly  greeting. 
I  have  come  to  Nicaragua  to  express  to  you  the 
keen  feeling  of  neighborly  sympathy  entertained 
by  my  Government  for  the  Government  and  people 
of  Nicaragua,  and  it  is  indeed  a  pleasure  to  meet 
you  here  and  be  privileged  to  speak  to  you  face  to 
face. 

Thanks  to  the  frank  and  most  cordial  relations 
which  happily  exist  between  our  respective  coun 
tries  our  people  are  rapidly  becoming  more  deeply 
interested  in  the  welfare  and  development  and  con 
sequent  prosperity  of  Nicaragua,  and  are  more  than 
ever  before  manifesting  a  desire  to  cultivate  even 
closer  and  more  intimate  relations.  Movements 
toward  closer  association  and  truer  friendship 
between  the  peoples  of  different  countries  are  not 
arbitrarily  created  by  outward  efforts;  they  spring 
from  within.  Their  primary  impulse  is  the  grow 
ing  conviction  of  neighboring  countries  that  the 
development  and  prosperity  of  each  is  in  harmony 
with  the  advancement  of  the  welfare  of  all.  Such 
movements  are  tremendously  facilitated  by  the 
38 


KNOX.  39 

confidence  and  friendship  that  follows  acquaintance, 
and  that  fact  is  the  inspiration  of  my  mission. 

Although  the  interest  of  the  people  of  the 
United  States  in  the  welfare  of  your  country  is 
keen  there  is  not  and  never  has  been  any  desire 
either  on  the  part  of  the  American  Government  or 
people  to  mix  unduly  or  unbidden  in  the  internal 
affairs  of  Nicaragua,  but  to  the  request  for  assist 
ance  in  the  regeneration  of  Nicaragua  my  Gov 
ernment  was  happy  promptly  to  respond. 

The  political  and  economic  situation  that  had 
arisen,  due  to  many  years  of  misrule,  rendered  the 
task  of  reorganization  of  your  Government  exceed 
ingly  difficult,  and  your  leaders,  because  of  the 
frank  friendship  and  good  faith  of  the  United  States 
toward  the  Nicaraguan  people  as  a  whole,  naturally 
turned  to  the  American  Government  for  council 
and  assistance  in  the  arduous  task  before  them. 
My  Government  was  glad  to  send  to  Managua  a 
special  commissioner  to  aid  in  making  a  fixed  pro 
gram  which  the  leaders  pledged  themselves  to  carry 
out  and  in  which  -was  contemplated  loyal  coopera 
tion  in  the  rehabilitation  of  Nicaragua.  The  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  was  glad  to  suggest, 
upon  the  invitation  of  Nicaragua,  a  competent 
financial  adviser  who  should  make  a  careful  study 
of  the  economic  conditions  of  the  country  and 
counsel  the  Government  of  Nicaragua  as  to  the 
best  methods  to  be  pursued  in  dealing  with  this 
most  difficult  and  important  problem,  and  also  to 
assist  you  in  devising  means  to  be  adopted  to  deal 


4O  NICARAGUA. 

with  the  claims  against  Nicaragua  and  to  dispose  in 
an  adequate  and  just  manner  of  the  outstanding 
and  legally  or  economically  unsound  and  ruinous 
concessions. 

The  United  States  was  likewise,  upon  your  in 
vitation,  glad  to  conclude  a  convention  with  Nica 
ragua  which  will  provide  a  sufficient  measure  of  se 
curity  for  a  new  foreign  loan,  essential  for  your 
financial  reorganization  and  internal  public  im 
provements.  While  this  convention  is  still  pending 
before  the  United  States  Senate  it  has  become  nec 
essary  for  Nicaragua  to  make  some  provision  for 
the  immediate  reformation  of  the  local  currency, 
and  in  order  to  accomplish  this  a  short-time  loan 
has  been  negotiated  and  my  Government  has  gladly 
approved  the  name  of  an  American  collector  gen 
eral  of  customs,  who  has  been  appointed  by  the 
Government  of  Nicaragua. 

The  Nicaraguan  people  are  to  be  congratulated 
that  they  have  at  the  head  of  the  nation  a  man 
quick  to  realize  the  necessities  of  the  country  and 
of  courage  sufficient  to  expeditiously  set  on  foot 
the  best  and  surest  means  of  meeting  the  country's 
needs. 

It  must  here  be  remembered  that  the  progress 
already  made  and  the  continuance  of  Nicaragua 
along  the  path  to  national  regeneration  depend 
almost  entirely  upon  the  preservation  of  peace 
and  contentment  in  the  country,  and  that  the 
surest  means  of  reaching  this  end  is  the  faithful 


KNOX.  41 

observance  of  the  pledges  made  by  the  leaders  of 
all  parties. 

In  the  zone  of  the  Caribbean  the  responsibili 
ties  of  the  United  States  are  becoming  increasingly 
great  as  the  opening  of  the  great  waterway  which 
is  to  change  the  trade  routes  of  the  world  draws 
nearer  and  the  desire  of  the  United  States  to  see 
order  and  prosperity  becomes  even  more  intensified. 
We  are  especially  interested  in  the  prosperity 
of  all  the  people  of  Nicaragua.  Their  prosper 
ity  means  contentment  and  contentment  means 
repose.  The  United  States  have  always  cherished 
sentiments  of  the  warmest  regard  and  most  cordial 
esteem  for  the  people  of  Nicaragua,  and  from  the 
very  commencement  of  the  independent  existence 
of  Nicaragua  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
has  steadfastly  adhered  to  the  traditional  policy  that 
found  expression  in  the  words  of  President  Monroe 
and  which  indicated  a  sympathetic  interest  in  see 
ing  this  country  develop  and  progress  unrestricted 
and  unfettered  by  the  interference  of  foreign  na 
tions.  Encouraged  by  that  sympathy  Nicaragua 
was  able  to  add  to  its  jurisdiction  a  strip  of  terri 
tory  along  the  Atlantic  coast  which,  with  the  estab 
lishment  of  better  means  of  communication  be 
tween  the  eastern  and  western  portions  of  the 
country,  will  add  greatly  to  the  resources  and  the 
political  prestige  of  the  Republic.  The  people  of 
the  United  States  most  earnestly  desire  that  Nica 
ragua  should  steadily  advance  to  that  place  in  the 
family  of  nations  to  which  its  situation,  its  wealth, 


42  NICARAGUA. 

and  the  capacity  of  its  people  for  self-government 
justly  entitle  it,  and  in  that  spirit  of  cordial  good 
will  and  warm  friendship  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  stands  prepared  to  lend  such  counsel 
and  assistance  as  may  be  requested  and  as  may  be 
proper  in  the  establishment  of  a  government  calcu 
lated  to  maintain  order,  enforce  law,  discharge  its 
international  obligations,  and  promote  peace,  prog 
ress,  and  prosperity. 

I  was  much  impressed,  sir,  by  the  lofty  stand 
ard  Nicaragua  has  set  for  herself,  so  eloquently  ex 
pressed  by  you  in  your  gracious  words  of  welcome 
to  our  minister,  whom  you  have  so  recently  re 
ceived.  When  you  assured  him  that  Nicaragua 
"had  established  as  a  firm  base  of  government  the 
respect  for  human  life,  the  absolute  right  to  prop 
erty,  the  suppression  of  the  odious  system  of  forced 
contributions,  the  complete  independence  of  the 
courts,  the  freedom  of  the  press,  and  the  observ 
ance  of  all  individual  guaranties",  you  justly  con 
cluded  that  these  facts  were  "eloquent  testimony  of 
the  unvarying  purpose  that  animates  the  Govern 
ment  of  Nicaragua  to  be  faithful  to  its  interna 
tional  obligations  and  to  the  promises  of  liberty  and 
justice  given  to  its  citizens". 

It  has  probably  never  happened  that  neighboring 
countries,  which  have  been  more  or  less  afflicted 
with  international  and  internal  troubles  of  frequent 
recurrence  arising  from  similar  causes,  have  adopted 
such  radical  and  effective  means  for  their  preven 
tion  as  did  the  five  Central  American  republics  in 


KNOX.  43 

the  three  treaties  signed  at  Washington  in  1907 
under  the  friendly  counsel  and  sympathy  of  the 
United  States  and  Mexico. 

By  the  convention  for  the  establishment  of  a 
Central  American  Court  of  Justice  they  bound 
themselves  to  create  and  maintain  a  permanent  tri 
bunal  and  to  submit  to  it  all  controversies  and  ques 
tions  which  may  arise  among  them  of  whatever 
nature.  By  the  general  treaty  of  peace  and  amity 
they  agreed  to  the  maintenance  of  peace  in  their 
mutual  relations,  and  to  that  end,  taking  into  con 
sideration  the  central  geographical  position  of  Hon 
duras,  they  stipulated  for  its  complete  neutrality  in 
event  of  conflict  between  the  other  republics,  and, 
in  order  to  remove  one  of  the  most  frequent  sources 
of  trouble,  provision  was  made  calculated  to  sup 
press  revolutionary  activity  on  the  part  of  the  resi 
dents  in  adjacent  republics.  By  the  addition  to 
that  convention,  and  for  the  purpose  of  further  dis 
couraging  and  preventing  internal  disturbances  in 
the  five  republics,  they  agreed  to  refuse  to  recognize 
revolutionary  governments  in  each  other's  countries 
until  first  constitutionally  recognized  in  the  country 
where  occurring;  they  agreed  not  to  intervene  in 
any  country  in  case  of  civil  war;  and  they  agreed 
to  constitutional  reform.  The  mere  fact  that  these 
high  resolutions  may  not  have  been  strictly  observed 
in  particular  cases  should  by  no  means  discourage 
the  signatory  parties,  the  important  fact  being  that 
these  five  republics  have  indicated  their  sincere 
desire  for  international  peace  and  domestic  tran- 


44  NICARAGUA. 

quillity,  and  have  devised  complete  and  adequate 
means  to  that  end,  the  faithful  adherence  of  which 
will  become  more  and  more  habitual  as  the  excel 
lent  example  of  the  more  advanced  republics  con 
tinues  to  prompt  it. 

Mindful  of  the  part  the  United  States  took  in 
encouraging  the  making  of  these  treaties  and  the 
moral  obligations  arising  therefrom  it  is  not  the 
intention  of  our  Government  or  our  people  to  refrain 
from  lending  every  possible  proper  aid  and  encour 
agement  to  the  parties  to  these  conventions  to  con 
stantly  carry  into  effect  their  wise  and  beneficent 
provisions. 

If  this  or  any  other  government  is  to  endure  in 
this  or  any  other  land  it  is  necessary  that  wisdom, 
vigilance,  patience,  and  loyalty  should  abide  in  its 
halls  of  legislation,  its  chambers  of  justice,  in  the 
centers  of  executive  power,  and  with  the  dominating 
mass  of  its  people. 

The  establishment  and  preservation  of  the  insti 
tutions  of  free  government,  here  as-  elsewhere, 
depend  not  upon  those  who  think  first  of  serving 
themselves  and  to  that  end  would  sacrifice  their 
country;  not  upon  those  who  think  only  of  defeat 
ing  the  opposition  and  to  that  end  would  sacrifice 
the  world;  but  upon  those  who  think  only  of  the 
welfare  of  their  country  and  to  that  end  would  sac 
rifice  themselves. 

In  Nicaragua  there  is  to-day  present  the  oppor 
tunity  and  the  acute  necessity  for  a  display  of  the 
very  highest  and  most  enduring  type  of  patriotism. 


KNOX.  45 

There  is  now  a  call  to  her  true  sons  to  give  the  best 
that  is  within  them  to  anxious  and  concerted  effort 
for  the  public  weal,  to  execute  the  compromises, 
adjustments,  and  concessions  essential  for  the  gen 
eral  welfare,  and,  by  consistent  and  loyal  adherence 
to  the  understandings  and  agreements  that  have 
been  reached  for  the  rehabilitation  of  their  Govern 
ment,  to  place  their  names  first  upon  their  country's 
enduring  roll  of  fame. 


Speech  of  the  President  of  the  National  Constitu 
tional  Assembly  of  Nicaragua,  Dr.  Ignacio 
Suarez,  at  a  solemn  session  of  that  body  held  at 
Managua  in  honor  of  Mr.  Knox,  March  6, 
1912. 

[Translation.] 

MOST  EXCELLENT  MR.  SECRETARY: 

The  National  Constitutional  Assembly  wishes 
to  accord  you  this  reception  to  give  you  a  cordial 
welcome  in  testimony  of  the  lively  sympathy  and 
high  esteem  which  the  people  and  Government  of 
the  United  States  inspire  in  them,  and  you,  Mr. 
Secretary,  who,  in  the  high  character  of  Secretary 
of  State  of  the  great  American  nation,  have  con 
tributed  indirectly  with  your  moral  influence  to  the 
pacification  of  our  country.  Hence,  I  have  the 
honor  to  express  these  sentiments  in  the  name  of 
the  National  Congress,  prophesying  the  most  per 
fect  success  of  the  mission  which  has  brought  you 
here. 

You  are  not,  therefore,  to  us  merely  the  diplo 
matic  representative  of  a  powerful  nation  whom  we 
admire  and  respect  and  to  whom  we  are  bound  by 
ties  of  old  and  friendly  relations,  but  also  a  wel 
come  guest,  owing  to  your  having  given  proof  that 
you  are  animated  by  a  lofty  spirit  of  American 
brotherhood. 
46 


SUAREZ.  47 

It  can  not  be  denied,  however,  that  your  visit, 
which  the  peoples  of  America  and  ourselves  espe 
cially,  have  been  awaiting  with  suspense,  has  awak 
ened  fears  and  misgivings  in  timid  minds,  who  see 
in  it  a  peril  to  our  autonomy.  Undoubtedly  it  is 
because  they  are  unaware  of  the  many  proofs  which 
on  divers  and  solemn  occasions  North  American 
statesmen  have  given  officially  which  eliminate  all 
tendency  to  expansion  or  to  interference  in  foreign 
dominions  which  might  compromise  the  latter's 
sovereignty  and  independence. 

It  must  be  recognized  also  that  a  propaganda 
nearly  continental  in  proportions  denouncing  ex 
pansionism  has  been  initiated.  This  propaganda 
first  took  form  in  the  famous  Monroe  Doctrine,  so 
opportunely  formulated,  now  amplifying  and  re 
stricting  its  terms,  or  diluting  it  in  a  strong  solution 
of  unbiased  criticism  in  order  to  arrive  at  the  exact 
conception  of  its  true  meaning. 

Those  unfounded  fears  of  which  I  have  just 
made  mention  arise  from  this.  To  dissipate  them 
it  is  enough  for  me  to  recall  some  of  those  proofs, 
unimpeachable  through  having  been  confirmed  in 
the  international  practice  of  the  United  States. 

The  glorious  conqueror  of  Vicksburg,  in  1881, 
calmed  the  restlessness  of  the  Mexicans  who  at 
tributed  intentions  of  annexation  to  his  journey, 
assuring  them,  at  a  banquet  given  to  him  by  the 
deputies  of  Oaxaca,  that  the  people  of  the  United 
States  would  under  no  circumstances  accept  annexa- 


48  NICARAGUA. 

tion,  not  even  if  nine-tenths  of  the  people  of  Mexico 
should  ask  for  it,  and  he  added : 

We  do  not  need  new  territory;  we  have  yet  to  develop 
what  we  have.  We  wish  to  see  our  neighbors  prosper  and 
become  strong  enough  in  order  that  the  projects  which 
are  formed  by  other  countries  in  relation  to  them  may  in 
no  way  endanger  their  safety. 

And  later,  in  1885,  in  order  to  dispel  new  fears 
in  the  same  Republic,  the  United  States  minister, 
Mr.  Henry  R.  Jackson,  in  a  reception  given  on 
July  4,  pronounced  these  energetic  and  quieting 
words: 

May  the  hand  be  paralyzed  that  dares  to  strike  out  a 
single  star  of  the  pleiad  of  American  republics!  May  the 
stateman  perish  who  pulls  out  petals  or  pistils  from  a  sin 
gle  flower!  Allow  to  each  nation  the  full  enjoyment  of  its 
institutions,  customs,  and  local  laws.  Let  it  govern  itself 
according  to  its  pleasure.  If  American  freedom  for  all 
nations  does  not  consist  in  this,  then  our  Constitutions, 
Federal  and  State,  can  be  naught  but  lies  and  our  flag  a 
farce. 

The  Attorney  General,  Mr.  Gushing,  upon  giv 
ing  an  opinion  requested  by  the  Secretary  of  State, 
Mr.  William  L.  Marcy,  on  a  claim  of  Peru  against 
the  United  States,  thus  expressed  himself: 

It  seems  to  me  that  considerations  of  expediency  con 
cur  with  all  sound  ideas  of  public  law  to  indicate  the 
propriety  of  a  return  to  more  reserve  in  all  this  matter, 
as  between  the  Spanish  American  Republics  and  the 
United  States;  that  is,  to  abstain  from  applying  to  them 
any  rule  of  public  law  which  we  do  not  admit  to  have 
applied  to  us;  to  do  only  as  we  would  be  done  by;  and 


SUAREZ.  49 

to  consult  their  well-being,  and  cultivate  their  friendship, 
by  adhering  to  the  impartial  assertion,  whether  in  claim 
or  in  rejection  of  claim,  of  the  established  rules  of  the 
international  jurisprudence  of  Christendom. 

Such  wise  and  worthy  words  even  the  venerable 
founder  of  American  democracy  would  not  have 
disdained  to  pronounce. 

I  omit  other  more  recent  declarations,  for  they 
are  better  known,  such  as  those  of  Secretary  of 
State  Root  on  his  trip  through  South  America, 
calculated  also  to  communicate  to  weak  nations  the 
security  of  their  independence. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  justice  will  triumph 
and  that  the  way  will  be  opened  through  which 
invigorating  and  fruitful  currents  will  urge  on  to 
fields  of  progress. 

The  evolution  taking  place  in  private  law,  influ 
enced  by  the  principles  of  true  justice  which  does 
not  lose  sight  of  the  common  destiny  of  mankind, 
is  already  more  important  than  international  law, 
and  from  day  to  day  the  violence  of  nation  against 
nation  becomes  rarer  where  such  violence  is 
grounded  only  on  the  supremacy  of  strength. 

I  have  the  pleasure  here  to  state  that  the  United 
States  has  in  nearly  all  cases  abided  by  the  principles 
above  laid  down.  In  evidence  of  this  are  the  many 
cases  of  arbitration  with  small  nations :  The  Vene 
zuelan  flour  claim  of  1836,  which  it  dropped 
when  convinced  that  it  was  in  the  wrong;  the 
abuses  of  a  mixed  commission  on  claims  against 
Paraguay,  removed  in  1862  by  this  declaration 

s  105 4 


5O  NICARAGUA. 

of  the  President:  "The  people  and  Government  of 
the  United  States  are  too  honorable  to  connive  at 
oriental  trickery  in  favor  of  their  citizens  to  the 
detriment  of  justice";  to  Peru  was  given  entire 
satisfaction  in  1852  by  the  Secretary  of  State,  Mr. 
Everett,  "in  consequence  of  unintentional  injustice 
done",  according  to  his  expression,  when  the  sov 
ereignty  of  this  Republic  in  certain  guano  islands 
which  American  citizens  wished  to  take  possession 
of  was  put  in  jeopardy. 

And  I  could  continue  with  similar  quotations. 
I  shall  not  omit  the  Venezuelan  case,  owing  to  the 
special  circumstances  which  attached  to  it.  This 
Republic  was  condemned  to  pay  by  a  mixed  com 
mission  an  indemnity  to  American  citizens  in  the 
sum  of  $1,253,310.30.  It  paid  one-half,  more  or 
less,  and  it  then  refused  to  pay  the  rest  because 
great  frauds  had  been  disclosed  which  placed  the 
real  amount  of  the  debt  at  $80,000.  The  American 
Congress,  at  the  request  of  the  Executive,  author 
ized  the  use  of  force  for  obtaining  payment;  but 
Venezuela  held  out  in  its  refusal  until  President 
Arthur  and  Secretary  Frelinghuysen  recognized  that 
it  was  right,  and  to  this  effect  Congress  was  in 
formed,  and  this  high  body  thereupon  unanimously 
resolved  that  another  commission  should  be  ap 
pointed  to  revise  the  first  decision. 

I  have  gone  into  these  details  at  length  to  make 
clear  the  procedure  of  your  powerful  country  with 
the  other  weak  ones  of  the  continent;  and  the  last 
cited  in  particular  attracts  the  attention,  for  it 


SUAREZ.  51 

treats  of  a  decision  clothed  with  all  the  force  of  a 
thing  adjudicated  opened  anew  through  respect  for 
right  and  equity. 

Hence,  all  fears  and  all  prejudice  ought  to  be 
rejected  in  our  relations  with  the  United  States,  it 
being  evident  that  the  strongest  bulwark  of  our 
guaranty  as  a  nation,  lacking  physical  strength, 
lies  in  the  force  which  emanates  from  right,  and 
therefore  it  resides  in  your  own  institutions,  in  your 
characteristic  respect  for  law,  which,  as  was  said 
by  a  notable  writer,  is  borne  of  the  Anglo-Saxon 
temperament — calm,  practical,  lover  of  justice,  and 
adverse  to  all  extreme  measures. 

Hard  is  the  lot  of  a  weak  people,  even  when 
its  friendship  with  great  and  strong  nations  is  taken 
into  consideration. 

The  same  august  founder  of  your  prosperous 
Union,  who  saw  everything  through  the  crystal  of 
his  excellent  virtues,  said,  on  taking  leave  of  public 
life,  in  his  immortal  message  addressed  to  Congress: 

Such  an  attachment  of  a  small  or  weak  toward  a  great 
and  powerful  nation  dooms  the  former  tc*be  the  satellite 
of  the  latter. 

Nicaragua,,  however,  which  in  1884  was  closely 
bound  to  your  country  by  the  Zavala-Frelinghuysen 
treaty,  does  not  fear  prejudice  or  see  peril  to  its 
autonomy,  and,  strong  in  its  good  faith  and  confi 
dent  in  its  institutions,  founded  in  and  strengthened 
by  the  same  principles  of  justice  which  govern  your 
wonderful  Republic,  we  open  our  arms  and  receive 


52  NICARAGUA. 

you  as  friends,  with  signal  show  of  respect  and  true 
esteem. 

Accept,  Mr.  Secretary,  this  manifestation  of  the 
Assembly,  and  which,  through  you,  it  extends  to  the 
people  and  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


MR.  PRESIDENT: 

I  deeply  appreciate  the  honor  of  being  invited 
to  appear  before  this  Assembly  in  solemn  session. 
It  is  another  mark  of  the  high  consideration  I  have 
been  shown  since  I  entered  the  Republic.  I  pro 
foundly  realize  the  important  relations  which  the 
legislative  branch  of  your  Government,  like  the 
legislative  branches  of  all  republics,  bears  to  the 
national  system  and  how  important  its  functions 
are  for  the  welfare  of  the  people. 

The  real  crisis  in  the  history  of  any  people  who 
have  by  revolution  freed  themselves  from  tyranny 
and  oppression  is  when  the  cohesive  force  of  the 
perils  of  war  have  been  released  and  the  duty  of 
the  construction  of  a  new  government  begins.  A 
people  may  be  liberated  and  their  right  to  self- 
government  established  by  the  arbitrament  of  war; 
but  liberty  without  efficient  government  is  anarchy, 
and  a  true  national  government  must  be  con 
structed.  We  found  this  true  in  the  history  of  the 
United  States,  and  the  period  that  intervened 
between  the  surrender  of  Lord  Cornwallis  at  York- 
town  and  the  establishment  of  the  present  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  was  one  of  the  most 
critical  in  its  history.  It  was  commonly  asserted, 
and  even  by  our  most  friendly  critics,  that  we  were 

53 


54  NICARAGUA. 

incapable  of  establishing  any  species  of  government 
because  we  were  disunited.  It  was  thought  that 
suspicion  and  distrust  of  the  people  of  the  different 
sections  of  our  country  would  continue  until  the 
end  of  time,  and  that  we  would  be  subdivided  into 
little  commonwealths  or  communities,  according  to 
the  physical  conformation  of  the  land. 

Perhaps  without  the  splendid  service  which  the 
immortal  Washington  rendered  to  his  country  in 
its  trying  years  this  dire  prediction  might  have 
proved  true,  but  he  roused  the  people  to  the  appre 
ciation  of  the  fact  that  no  permanent  government 
was  possible  unless  the  people  themselves  would  be 
willing,  as  he  expressed  it  in  his  farewell  letter,  "to 
sacrifice,  if  need  be,  some  of  their  local  interests 
to  the  common  weal;  they  must  discard  their  local 
prejudices  and  regard  one  another  as  fellow  citizens 
of  a  common  country,  with  interests  in  the  deepest 
and  truest  sense  identical".  This  communication 
was  addressed  to  the  people  of  thirteen  different 
Commonwealths,  each  of  which  regarded  itself  as 
a  sovereign  power,  and  each  of  which  was  groan 
ing  under  the  burden  it  had  assumed  for  the 
common  cause  now  brought,  as  they  believed,  to 
a  happy  issue.  They  were  in  no  humor  for  fur 
ther  surrender  or  sacrifice;  they  were  quarreling 
among  themselves  over  all  sorts  of  real  and  fancied 
grievances.  Our  credit  was  failing  at  home  and 
abroad;  our  relations  with  other  countries  as  well 
as  between  ourselves  were  unhappy  because  of 
our  lack  of  unity.  As  a  result  our  citizens  were 


KNOX.  55 

insulted,  kidnapped,  impressed,  and  sold  into  slavery, 
and  all  sorts  of  economic  vagaries  were  abroad  in 
the  land.  This  pointed  to  an  early  condition  of 
total  wreckage  of  all  that  we  had  gained  by  our  war 
for  independence  if  a  better  understanding  for  the 
future  was  not  soon  reached. 

Fortunately  this'  opportunity  came  in  the  call 
for  the  Constitutional  Convention  in  Philadelphia 
in  1787.  Once  again  duty  called  Washington  from 
the  satisfactions  of  private  life  to  preside  over  the 
destiny  of  his  countrymen,  and  upon  the  very 
threshold  of  its  labors  his  lofty  character  and  noble 
eloquence  inspired  the  members  of  the  convention 
with  a  sense  of  their  duties  and  responsibilities.  It 
has  been  said  by  one  of  our  great  historians*  that — 

At  the  very  outset  some  of  the  delegates  began  to 
exhibit  symptoms  of  that'  peculiar  kind  of  moral  cowardice 
which  is  wont  to  afflict  free  governments,  and  of  which 
American  history  furnishes  so  many  instructive  examples. 
It  was  suggested  that  palliatives  and  half  measures  would 
be  far  more  likely  to  find  favor  with  the  people  than  any 
thoroughgoing  reform,  when  Washington  suddenly  in 
terposed  with  a  brief  but  immortal  speech,  which  ought  to 
be  blazoned  in  letters  of  gold,  and  posted  on  the  walls 
of  every  American  assembly  that  shall  meet  to  nominate 
a  candidate,  or  declare  a  policy,  or  pass  a  law,  so  long  as 
the  weakness  of  human  nature  shall  endure.  Rising  from 
his  President's  chair,  his  ^tall  figure  drawn  up  to  its  full 
height,  he  exclaimed,  in  tones  unwontedly  solemn,  with 
suppressed  emotion:  "It  is  too  probable  that  no  plan  we 
propose  will  be  adopted;  perhaps  another  dreadful  con 
flict  is  to  be  sustained.  If,  to  please  the  people,  we  offer 

*John  Fiske,  "The  Critical  Period  of  American  History,  1783-1789". 


56  NICARAGUA. 

what  we  ourselves  disapprove,  how  can  we  afterward 
defend  our  work?  Let  us  raise  a  standard  to  which  the 
wise  and  the  honest  can  repair;  the  event  is  in  the  hand 
of  God." 

This  outburst  of  noble  eloquence  carried  conviction  to 
everyone,  and  henceforth  we  do  not  hear  that  any  attempt 
was  avowedly  made  to  avoid  the  issues  as  they  came  up. 
It  was  a  most  wholesome  tonic.  It  braced  up  the  con 
vention  to  high  resolves,  and  impressed  upon  all  the  dele 
gates  that  they  were  in  a  situation  where  faltering  or 
trifling  was  both  wicked  and  dangerous.  From  that 
moment  the  mood  in  which  they  worked  caught  some 
thing  from  the  glorious  spirit  of  Washington. 

The  result  of  the  labors  of  this  convention  was 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States;  the  result 
of  its  ratification  by  the  States  was  the  birth  of  a 
nation.  The  present  unity,  brotherhood,  and  inter- 
citizenship  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  formerly  dis 
cordant  and  jarring  States  of  our  Union  attest  the 
beneficence  of  the  work  of  those  upon  whom  the 
original  responsibility  was  cast,  and  you  people  of 
Nicaragua  may  be  assured  of  the  certainty  that 
under  Providence  great  blessings  will  come  to  you 
as  a  result  of  the  heroic  fortitude  you  have  dis 
played  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  if  it  is  followed  by 
wise,  prompt,  and  beneficent  action  for  the  rehabili 
tation  and  reconstruction  of  the  institutions  of  your 
land.  Mere  politics,  local  differences,  sectional 
strife,  personal  ambition,  should  be  set  aside,  and 
the  best  thought  and  the  best  effort  of  the  country 
given  to  the  consideration  and  enactment  of  such 
economic  measures  as  will  open  to  the  people  of 


KNOX.  57 

Nicaragua  a  new  vista  of  hope  and  prosperity. 
This,  supplemented  by  such  measures  as  will  make 
permanent  and  enduring  the  equality  of  rights 
which  is  essential  to  the  maintenance  of  republican 
institutions,  will  give  Nicaragua  her  proper  place 
among  the  family  of  American  republics. 

I  note,  Mr.  President,  what  you  have  said  in  re 
gard  to  the  existence  of  some  apprehension  here  and 
in  other  republics  of  Latin  America  as  to  the  true 
motives  and  purposes  of  the  United  States  toward 
them  under  the  Monroe  Doctrine.  I  beg  to  assure 
you,  and  I  am  sure  that  what  I  say  meets  the 
approval  of  the  people  and  President  of  the  United 
States,  that  my  Government  does  not  covet  an  inch 
of  territory  south  of  the  Rio  Grande./  The  full 
measure  and  extent  of  our  policy  is  to  assist  in 
the  maintenance  of  republican  institutions  upon 
this  hemisphere,  and  we  are  anxious  that  the  experi 
ment  of  a  government  of  the  people,  for  the  people, 
and  by  the  people  shall  not  fail  in  any  republic  on 
this  continent.  We  have  a  well-known  policy  as 
to  causes  that  might  threaten  the  existence  of  an 
American  republic  from  beyond  the  sea.  We  are 
equally  desirous  that  there  shall  be  no  failure  to 
maintain  a  republican  form  of  government  from 
forces  of  disintegration  originating  from  within ; 
and  so  far  as  we  may  be  able  we  will  always  be 
found  willing  to  lend  such  proper  assistance  as  may 
be  within  our  power  to  preserve  the  stability  of 
our  sister  American  republics. 


Speech  of  the  President  of  the  Supreme  Court  of 
Justice,  Dr.  Alfonso  Solorzano,  at  a  solemn  ses 
sion  held  by  that  Tribunal  in  honor  of  Mr. 
Knox  on  March  <5,  1912. 


[Translation.] 

EXCELLENT  SIR: 

It  is  the  first  time  in  the  annals  of  the  history  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Justice  that  it  has  departed 
from  its  traditions  and  extended  an  invitation  to 
anyone  to  honor  it  with  a  visit. 

But  nothing  is  more  natural  than  that  it  should 
be  extended  to  you  who  come  as  the  representative 
of  the  great  American  Nation,  which,  it  is  truthfully 
said,  has  placed  law  upon  the  highest  pedestal  in 
the  world. 

We  read  your  history  with  interest  to  learn  of 
the  institutions  of  a  free  people;  its  pages,  covered 
with  wise  lessons,  have  taught  us  to  love  your  great 
men  of  lofty  virtue,  who,  always  conscious  of  their 
duty,  had  the  strength  of  mind  to  perform  it — those 
men  of  a  glorious  past  who  first  planted  with  firm 
and  unfaltering  hand  the  banner  of  freedom  in  the 
heart  of  the  American  Continent. 

Born,  like  you,  to  a  life  of  law,  we  have  strug 
gled  for  liberty.  Vividly  before  us  is  the  example 
of  your  country,  which  has  succeeded  in  attaining 
58 


SOLORZANO.  59 

the  height  of  power  not  only  through  the  untiring 
endeavors  of  its  sons  to  win  material  progress,  but 
also,  and  especially,  through  its  political  institu 
tions  so  wisely  formulated  and  even  more  judicially 
adhered  to. 

When  your  great  ancestors  founded  the  Republic 
they  embodied  in  the  Constitution  the  admirable 
principles  of  liberty.  They  believed,  and  rightly, 
that  progress  and  happiness  of  a  people  could 
only  be  brought  about  by  the  full  exercise  of  indi 
vidual  activities,  and  hence  they  put  upon  them  no 
limitations  other  than  those  fixed  by  God,  Himself, 
to  prevent  annihilation  of  all  in  the  clash  of  oppos 
ing  aspirations. 

But  they  also  understood  that  the  wise  provi 
sions  of  this  political  organism  would  be  fruitless  if 
they  did  not  establish  a  sovereign  and  independent 
power,  which,  removed  as  far  as  human  weakness 
permits  from  the  strife  of  parties  and  free  from 
the  passions*  of  interest,  should  become  the  custo 
dian  of  its  institutions  and  safeguard  its  laws;  and 
to  the  Supreme  Court  of  Justice,  which  already  had 
been  intrusted  with  the  noble  mission  of  conserving 
peace,  protecting  life,  property,  and  honor  against 
individual  acts,  was  intrusted  this  other  and  higher 
charge — that  of  maintaining  its  principles  when 
unfortunately  they  might  be  trampled  upon  by 
those  intrusted  to  guard  them. 

The  institution  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Justice 
as  the  custodian  of  the  fundamental  law  is,  to  quote 
Root,  "the  most  precious  gift  that  political  science 


6O  NICARAGUA. 

has  given  to  our  country".  We,  prepared  by  the 
history  of  our  "mother  country",  which  from  the  first 
understood  that  law  is  in  the  hands  of  the  govern 
ing  power,  were  heirs  also  to  this  valuable  legacy. 
Our  court,  like  yours,  without  machinery  of 
material  force,  is  perhaps  the  highest  moral  power 
of  the  State.  It  prevents  the  execution  of  those 
orders  of  the  other  high  powers  of  the  States  which 
might  violate  the  Constitution;  it  repairs  the  wrong, 
punishes  the  guilty,  and,  by  recent  ruling,  it  even 
decides  upon  direct  appeal  the  unconstitutionality 
of  the  laws.  It  is  this  power  which  now  demon 
strates  its  admiration  and  good  will  toward  you,  and, 
through  you,  toward  your  country.  We  fain  would 
believe  that,  if  the  assurances  of  cordiality  which 
the  political  bodies  of  our  country  have  lavished 
upon  you  have  been  agreeable,  as  the  expression  of 
sincere  feeling,  this  demonstration,  which  is  ad 
dressed  not  to  policy  but  to  an  eminent  jurisconsult, 
not  to  a  great  and  strong  power,  but  to  people  great 
in  law  and  liberty,  will  be  not  less  well  received. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


MR.  CHIEF  JUSTICE: 

This  is  indeed  a  high  honor  you  have  conferred 
on  me,  and  I  deeply  appreciate  it,  as  well  as  the  very 
kind  and  complimentary  words  which  you  have  just 
pronounced  in  referring  to  my  Government  and  to 
my  people. 

During  twenty-five  years  of  my  life  I  devoted 
myself  to  the  practice  of  law  in  my  native  State  and 
there  I  learned  to  respect  the  courts  as  a  power,  exert 
ing  within  the  orbits  of  law,  justice,  and  equity  great 
influence  for  all  that  is  good,  and  in  the  last  analysis 
constituting  the  strongest  safeguard  for  the  people's 
rights.  Though  I  have  never  occupied  a  judicial 
position,  yet,  having  served  as  the  chief  of  the 
Department  of  Justice  in  two  administrations,  the 
contact  which  my  position  permitted  me  to  enjoy 
with  the  members  of  the  bench  strengthened  my 
respect  for  the  courts  and  taught  me  to  appreciate 
the  sacrifice  made  by  those  who,  in  devoting  their 
lives  to  the  administration  of  justice,  deny  them 
selves  opportunities  for  acquiring  wealth  or  fame 
in  the  more  alluring  fields  of  human  endeavor. 

Again  I  beg  of  you,  Mr.  Chief  Justice,  to  accept 
my  most  sincere  thanks  for  the  distinguished  honor 
you  have  this  day  shown  to  me. 

61 


Speech  of  His  Excellency  Diego  M.  Chamorro,  Min 
ister  for  Foreign  Affairs  of  Nicaragua,  at  a 
banquet  tendered  to  Mr.  Knox  at  Managtia, 
March  6,  1912. 

[Translation.] 

MOST    EXCELLENT    MR.    MINISTER,    LADIES,    AND 
GENTLEMEN  : 

Animated  by  sentiments  of  the  most  legitimate 
satisfaction,  I  have  the  great  honor  to  offer  this 
homage  of  high  appreciation  and  good  will  to  the 
most  excellent  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United 
States  of  America,  Mr.  Philander  C.  Knox. 

The  people  and  Government  of  Nicaragua,  most 
excellent  Mr.  Secretary,  feel  a  lively  pleasure  in  the 
visit  that  you  make  to  our  country,  where  your  illus 
trious  land  is  alternately  appreciated  and  admired, 
and  with  unfeigned  rejoicing  we  celebrate  the  happy 
occasion  of  your  presence  among  us,  which  has  per 
mitted  you  to  know  personally  how  sincere  and  en 
thusiastic  are  the  sympathies  we  cherish  for  the  great 
Republic  of  the  north,  sympathies  which  increase 
every  day  in  the  glow  of  the  inalterable  confidence 
which  your  interest  for  the  well-being  and  prosperity 
of  Nicaragua  inspires  in  us,  and  in  the  perseverance 
with  which  we  labor  in  the  same  work  of  liberty 
and  of  justice,  which  is  the  aspiration  of  our  people 
and  the  generous  ideal  of  your  nation  and  of  your 
Government. 
62 


CHAMORRO.  63 

Peoples,  like  individuals,  more  than  by  their  own 
resources,  live  by  the  interests  common  to  other 
peoples,  and  no  nation,  without  placing  in  danger 
its  well-being  and  its  existence,  can  draw- away  from 
that  sociological  law  which  compels  all  individuals 
and  all  nationalities  to  live  together  in  a  general 
concert  which  tends  to  the  highest  development  of 
their  forces  in  the  material,  the  economic,  and  the 
moral  order. 

Profoundly  affected  by  this  truth  and  by  the 
exceptional  importance  which  the  relations  will  as 
sume  in  the  near  future,  without  doubt,  between 
the  United  States  and  other  nations  of  the  world 
and  all  the  countries  surrounding  the  Panama  Canal, 
we,  in  the  agreements  celebrated  with  the  United 
States,  without  any  reserve  or  vacillation,  have  fol 
lowed  the  inspirations  of  a  far-sighted  and  patriotic 
policy  that  counsels  us  not  to  lag  behind  the  other 
nations  on  the  ascending  road  of  progress,  civiliza 
tion,  and  culture,  but  to  assure,  once  for  all,  our 
position  among  the  nations  of  the  world. 

You,  most  excellent  sir,  are  not  a  stranger  among 
us.  Your  name  is  familiar  to  our  people,  and  every 
where  ;t  is  accompanied  by  the  respect  and  the 
affection  with  which  entire  Nicaragua  greets  you 
and  receives  you  as  an  old  and  true  friend.  Your 
illustrious  personality  and  the  eminent  representa 
tive  character  vested  in  you  give  to  your  pleasant 
visit  a  significance  superabundantly  honorable  for 
Nicaragua,  because  you  come  in  the  name  of  a  great 
people  to  whom  we  are  bound  not  only  by  the 


64  NICARAGUA. 

material  ties  of  an  active  commerce  ever  on  the 
increase,  but  by  the  better  and  indestructible  moral 
bonds  of  the  same  political  ideals,  and  by  your  his 
torical  traditions  closely  connected  with  all  our 
struggles  for  independence. 

With  your  beautiful  Declaration  of  July,  1776, 
you  awakened  in  all  the  people  of  America  the  love 
for  liberty.  Your  sympathies  accompanied  us  in 
our  strivings  for  emancipation,  and  before  any  other 
country  it  was  your  people  who  recognized  us  as 
sovereign  nations.  Your  international  doctrines 
then  gave  stability  and  strength  to  those  conquests 
of  right,  assuring  forever  our  existence  as  republics, 
unhampered  by  foreign  interference.  We  owe  to 
you  the  restoration  of  our  territory,  and  to-day  more 
than  ever  we  place  confidence  in  the  friendship  and 
solicitude  of  your  people  for  the  maximum  develop 
ment,  which  all  Nicaraguans  desire,  of  republican 
institutions  and  practices  of  which  your  country  is, 
par  excellence,  the  highest  exponent  in  the  world. 

In  the  paternal  house  we  learnt  from  childhood 
to  know  and  admire  your  great  forefathers.  The 
lives  of  Washington,  Lincoln,  and  Franklin  were 
heroic  legends  of  the  home  and  their  salient  and 
stirring  deeds  were  held  up  before  us  constantly  by 
our  elders  as  the  most  beautiful  examples  of  virtue 
and  patriotism  worthy  of  admiration;  and  so,  used 
to  living  in  communion  with  your  heroes,  we  never 
have  and  never  will  accustom  ourselves  to  regard 
them  as  strangers,  since  they  are  not  and  can  not 
be  such  for  any  free  man,  whatever  the  place  of  his 


CHAMORRO.  65 

nationality  in  the  world.  If  your  language  be 
unknown  to  us,  the  language  of  liberty  and  justice, 
which  by  its  example  pointed  the  way  to  the  attain 
ment  of  the  greatest  and  most  perfect  political 
institution  that  human  endeavor  has  been  able  to 
bring  about,  so  took  possession  of  our  minds  that 
it  is  not  surprising  that,  as  men,  in  contemplating 
the  stupendous  altitude  which  your  country  has 
reached  in  all  the  spheres  of  activity  and  civiliza 
tion,  we  should  continue  rendering  that  same  heart 
felt  tribute  of  our  admiration  to  those  famous  men 
who  initiated  such  work  and  to  the  heirs  of  those 
virtues  and  warders  of  such  great  institutions. 

In  witnessing  the  public  demonstrations  and 
your  reception  by  the  Nicaraguan  people  in  their 
fold,  and  in  considering  how  the  prejudices  and 
misunderstandings  among  the  nations  of  this  conti 
nent  are  quickly  blotted  out  by  the  frequent  cele 
bration  of  our  Pan-American  Congresses,  of  the 
lofty  policy  of  which  your  visit  to  our  countries  of 
Central  America  is  one  of-  the  most  expressive 
signs,  we  can  not  fail  to  recall  the  notable  words 
which  one  of  your  most  illustrious  men,  John 
Adams,  wrote  with  prophetic  vision  to  his  wife  on 
signing  your  magnificent  Declaration  of  Inde 
pendence.  He  said: 

Yesterday,  the  greatest  question  was  decided,  which 
ever  was  debated  in  America,  and  a  greater,  perhaps, 
never  was  nor  will  be  decided  among  men.  *  *  * 
But  the  day  is  past.  The  second  of  July  1776,  will  be  the 
most  memorable  epocha  in  the  history  of  America.  I  am 
s  105 5 


66  NICARAGUA. 

apt  to  believe  that  it  will  be  celebrated  by  succeeding 
generations  as  the  great  anniversary  festival.  It  ought  to 
be  commemorated,  as  the  day  of  deliverance,  by  solemn 
acts  of  devotion  to  God  Almighty.  It  ought  to  be  sol 
emnized  with  pomp  and  parade,  with  shows,  games, 
sports,  guns,  bells,  bonfires  and  illuminations,  from  one 
end  of  this  continent  to  the  other,  from  this  time  forward, 
forevermore. 

Remembering  these  beautiful  words  of  him  who 
was  your  second  President,  the  clear-sightedness  of 
the  statesman  is  surprising  who,  from  that  memo 
rable  date,  understood  the  whole  compass  of  your 
revolution  for  the  entire  world,  and  with  the  vision 
of  his  soul  assisted,  and  caused  his  contemporaries 
to  assist,  in  the  contemplation  of  the  colossal  devel 
opment  of  his  country,  free,  rich,  and  happy  after 
more  than  an  age  of  existence;  who  discerned,  and 
caused  others  to  discern,  the  edifying  and  magnifi 
cent  spectacle  of  America  separated  in  numerous 
republics,  but  all  united  in  a  single  ideal  of  justice, 
of  liberty,  and  of  respect  for  the  independence  and 
sovereignty  of  each  one  of  them. 

Permit  me,  gentlemen,  in  the  name  of  the  Pres 
ident  of  the  Republic,  to  invite  you  to  drink  a  toast 
to  His  Excellency  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  William  H.  Taft;  to  His  Excellency  the  Sec 
retary  of  State,  Philander  C.  Knox;  to  his  worthy 
wife  and  distinguished  ladies  who  accompany  her, 
whose  presence  grace  and  honor  this  occasion;  and 
to  the  North  American  people,  to  that  great  nation, 
the  friend  of  peace,  of  liberty,  and  of  justice. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


MR.  MINISTER,  LADIES,  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

I  am  deeply  grateful  for  the  evidences  of  cor 
diality  which  the  Government  has  given  me,  and  I 
accept  these  as  a  mark  of  brotherly  feeling  toward 
the  Government  and  people  of  the  United  States. 

To  my  addresses  before  the  Assembly  and  at  the 
Campo  de  Marte  I  have  nothing  further  to  add  rela 
tive  to  the  situation  of  Nicaragua,  but  I  do  wish  to 
avail  myself  of  the  opportunity  to  repeat  that  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  does  not  propose 
in  any  way  to  interfere  in  the  internal  affairs  of  this 
country. 

This  country,  though  small,  has  territory  and 
resources  sufficient  to  support  6,000,000  inhabitants, 
and  the  Government  of  the  United  States  will  assist 
Nicaragua  in  order  that  it  may  grow  in  wealth  and 
population,  thus  becoming  a  strong  nation. 

When  I  promised  to  go  to  Granada  I  fully  in 
tended  to  make  the  journey,  as  it  was  one  of  my 
most  cherished  wishes  that  I  could  have  the  privi 
lege  of  visiting  that  city.  The  demands  upon  me 
while  I  have  been  in  Nicaragua  have  been  so 
numerous  that  I  find  myself  physically  unable  to 
undertake  a  journey  that  will  require  me  to  travel 
so  far  to-morrow.  I  wish,  through  you,  to  express 

67 


68  NICARAGUA. 

to  the  good  citizens  of  Granada  my  very  deep  regret 
that  I  am  so  situated  that  I  can  not  be  the  recipient 
of  the  cordial  welcome  that  I  feel  certain  I  should 
receive  from  them. 


IV 


Speeches  in   Honduras 


Speech  of  His  Excellency  Mariano  Vasquez,  Min 
ister  for  Foreign  Affairs  of  Hondiiras,  at 
a  luncheon  given  to  Mr.  Knox  at  Amapala, 
March  8,  1912. 


[Translation.] 

MR.  SECRETARY: 

The  people  of  Honduras  feel  a  very  great  satis 
faction  at  your  arrival  in  its  national  territory. 

We,  the  members  of  the  Government,  Delegates 
of  the  National  Congress,  and  representatives  of 
the  judiciary,  have  come  to  offer  you  most  cordial 
reception  and  to  state  to  you  that  the  visit  that  you 
are  making  to  our  country  gives  us  pleasure. 

We  esteem  it  an  honor  to  our  small  Republic 
to  have  here  the  illustrious  Secretary  of  State  of 
the  great  Republic  of  America. 

The  American  Nation  has  always  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  world  by  the  tremendous  progress 
it  has  made  in  advancing  civilization.  We  have 
learned,  from  childhood  up,  to  admire  it;  every 
triumph  which  it  has  won  in  its  phenomenal  march 
has  a  grateful  echo  in  our  little  republics  and  makes 
us  feel  proud  to  be,  like  it,  sons  of  the  New  World. 

We  have  learned  likewise  to  pronounce  with 
veneration  and  affection  the  names  that  render  illus 
trious  the  history  of  your  nation,  the  model  of  re 
publican  virtues. 

71 


72  HONDURAS. 

Washington,  the  glory  of  America,  will  always 
be  recognized  as  one  of  the  greatest  leaders  of  the 
nations;  his  words  are  maxims  of  political  morality. 
He  who  said  "the  best  and  only  road  that  leads 
surely  to  honor,  glory,  and  true  dignity  is  justice" 
is,  indubitably,  not  only  the  father  of  the  American 
people  but  of  all  humanity.  His  wise  counsel  will 
continue  to  resound  through  future  ages. 

We  honor  Franklin,  the  genius  that  imprisoned 
the  destructive  lightning,  the  apostle  who  preached 
the  gospel  of  peace  to  all  nations;  Lincoln,  the 
liberator,  and  all  the  founders  of  America;  and  we 
admire,  too,  those  who,  continuing  the  great  work, 
are  likewise  benefactors  of  humanity. 

We  honor  Elihu  Root, who,  from  the  high  tribune 
of  Rio  de  Janeiro  in  the  Third  American  Conference, 
declared,  to  the  glory  of  the  great  Republic,  the 
universal  principle  of  the  equality  of  the  nations, 
when  he  said : 

We  deem  the  independence  and  equal  rights  of  the 
smallest  and  weakest  member  of  the  family  of  nations 
entitled  to  as  much  respect  as  those  of  the  greatest  empire. 

We  honor  Roosevelt,  President  Taft,  and  his 
worthy  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Knox,  who,  in  the 
midst  of  their  wise  and  fruitful  labors  in  their  own 
country,  began  yesterday  and  will  to-morrow  ter 
minate  so  colossal  an  undertaking  as  the  Panama 
Canal,  which  will  fill  the  world  with  admiration  and 
will  open  new  and  broader  highways  for  the  civili 
zation  and  progress  of  the  American  Continent. 


VASQUEZ.  73 

Accept,  sir,  from  the  Government  of  Honduras 
expressions  of  keenest  appreciation  of  the  cordiality 
shown  by  you  in  coming  to  our  territory  accom 
panied  by  your  distinguished  family  and  prominent 
persons  of  your  country,  and  permit  me,  on  this 
happy  occasion,  to  extend  in  the  name  of  the  Gov 
ernment  of  Honduras  most  sincere  wishes  for  the 
increasing  prosperity  of  the  great  Republic  and  for 
the  personal  welfare  of  President  Taft  and  his 
illustrious  Secretary  of  State. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


MR.  MINISTER  : 

In  the  name  of  my  Government  and  my  fellow 
citizens  I  thank  you  for  your  cordial  hospitality  and 
friendly  reception. 

It  is  with  sincere  regret,  Mr.  Minister,  that  I  am 
forced,  through  circumstances  over  which  neither  of 
us  has  any  control,  to  forego  the  pleasure  of  visiting 
the  capital  city  of  Honduras,  which  I  had  hoped  to 
be  able  to  accomplish  but  which  I  found  to  be  impos 
sible  within  the  limited  time  at  my  disposal.  Much 
as  I  should  have  enjoyed  the  beauties  of  the  journey 
to  the  capital  over  the  rugged  face  of  nature,  it  is 
nevertheless  a  great  pleasure  to  meet  you  here  and 
have  the  advantage  of  your  personal  acquaintance. 

The  importance  of  the  geographic  position  of 
Honduras,  which  borders  on  three  of  the  other  Re 
publics  of  Central  America,  has  long  been  recog 
nized,  and  experience  has  shown  that  most  of  the 
unrest  that  has  disturbed  Central  America,  and  par 
ticularly  Honduras,  has  been  due  to  the  fact  that 
Honduras  lies  conveniently  in  the  track  of  any 
armies  of  other  contending  Central  American  states 
and  it  has  been  impossible  for  Honduras  to  resist 
their  passage  without  itself  becoming  engaged  in 
the  quarrel  on  one  side  or  the  other.  So  much  has 
the  Republic  of  Honduras  suffered  in  this  regard 
and  so  often  has  the  peace  of  Central  America  been 

74 


KNOX.  75 

easily  disturbed,  owing  to  the  exposed  position  of 
this  country,  that  when  the  Central  American  Peace 
Conference  met  in  Washington  in  1907,  under  the 
auspices  of  the  United  States  and  Mexico,  an  article 
was  incorporated  in  one  of  the  conventions  there 
signed  whereby  all  the  other  powers  concerned 
pledged  themselves  to  respect  the  neutrality  of 
Honduras.  The  importance  and  wisdom  of  the 
provision  has  been  fully  demonstrated,  and  an  elo 
quent  testimonal  as  to  its  practical  value  is  that  since 
the  adoption  of  these  conventions,  although  other 
of  its  provisions  may  have  been  disregarded,  there 
has  been  no  international  war  in  Central  America. 

Probably  one  of  the  most  important  matters  to 
be  considered  by  the  Honduran  Government  is  how 
to  make  this  guaranty,  which  is  all  important  to 
the  peace  of  Central  America,  still  more  effective  and 
permanent.  It  is  manifest  that  it  is  only  as  strong 
as  the  stability  of  the  country  and  the  good  will 
of  its  neighbors  combined,  and  that  the  surest  means 
of  insuring  its  continued  respect  and  resultant  bene 
fits  is  to  assure  the  stability  of  the  Government  of 
Honduras  itself  and  thereby  to  permit  the  develop 
ment  of  its  wonderful  store  of  natural  resources. 

Possessed,  as  it  is,  of  a  fertile  soil  and  healthful 
climate,  as  well  as  of  probably  the  best  natural  har 
bor  between  San  Diego,  California,  and  Concep- 
cion,  Chile,  the  development  of  Honduras  would 
seem  to  be  a  matter  which  it  should  require  but  a 
short  time  to  accomplish.  In  Honduras,  all  the 
elements  of  great  national  prosperity  are  but  await- 


76  HONDURAS. 

ing  development.  The  great  needs  of  the  country, 
so  great  in  natural  wealth,  are  facilities  of  transpor 
tation,  which  will  at  once  stimulate  foreign  and  do 
mestic  commerce,  and  an  economic  administration. 

Central  American  tranquillity  and  security  have 
from  the  first  been  matters  of  the  deepest  concern 
to  the  United  States,  and  repose  in  Honduras, 
which  will  always  be  the  key  to  Central  American 
peace,  has  ever  awakened  the  keenest  interest  among 
Americans.  When  the  transcontinental  railroad 
from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific  was  first  under 
taken  the  sovereignty  of  Honduras  over  the  rail 
road  was  guaranteed  by  the  United  States,  and  my 
Government  has  always  stood  ready  to  assist  in  any 
proper  manner  the  preservation  of  order  and  the 
promotion  of  peace  in  this  country.  The  Marble- 
head  treaty,  the  convocation  of  the  Central  Ameri 
can  Peace  Conference  in  Washington,  and  the  part 
played  by  my  Government  in  the  Peace  Conference 
at  Puerto  Cortes  in  February,  1912,  are  all  eloquent 
testimonials  of  our  good  will  toward  Honduras. 

It  is  the  desire  of  my  Government  to  perpetu 
ate  upon  the  foundations  of  closer  friendship  and 
acquaintance  the  good  will  we  have  received  from 
the  past,  to  promote  our  common  interests  by  de 
veloping  a  better  mutual  understanding,  and  to 
frown  down  any  and  every  attempt  to  disturb  by 
calumny  and  baseless  suspicion  the  peaceful  and 
friendly  relations  between  the  United  States  and 
Honduras.  / 


Speech  of  Mr.  Knox  at  a  luncheon  given  by  him  on 
board  the  "Maryland"  at  Amapala,  Honduras, 
March 


LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

I  wish,  on  my  own  behalf  and  on  behalf  of  my 
party,  to  .express  our  appreciation  of  the  friendli 
ness  and  hospitality  that  we  have  received  since  we 
have  been  here,  and  this  afternoon  I  want  to  espe 
cially  acknowledge  our  appreciation  of  that  test  of 
good  will  which  is  evidenced  by  the  long  journey 
that  those  among  you  have  made  from  the  capital 
city  to  the  coast  under  most  trying  circumstances. 
I  do  not  know  of  a  higher  test  of  friendship  than 
the  one  which  you  have  thus  given  us.  Our 
reception  in  Honduras  has  been  especially  pleasing. 
Indeed,  I  might  almost  say  that  nothing  could 
excel  the  kindliness  that  has  been  shown  to  me 
and  to  my  party  since  we  reached  Central  America. 
There  is  one  thing  that  I  can  imagine  might  excel 
it,  and  that  is  the  malice  and  wickedness  with  which 
those  who  desire  to  prevent  closer  relations  between 
the  United  States  and  Central  America  have, 
through  false  reports,  endeavored  to  create  the 
impression  that  the  Central  American  people  have 
not  received  this  mission  with  kindliness  and  with 
sympathy.,  When  I  get  back  to  my  Government 
my  report  shall  be  that  up  to  the  time  that  we  have 

77 


78  HONDURAS. 

left  Amapala  not  a  single  incident  has  marred  the 
pleasure  of  our  visit,  not  a  single  thing  in  the  way 
of  bounteous  and  generous  hospitality  has  been 
lacking,  and  that  we  shall  all  feel  that  this  visit  has 
been  worth  much  to  us  and  we  hope  it  has  been 
worth  something  to  you.  As  I  started  out  to  say, 
I  want  this  afternoon  to  express  my  special  appre 
ciation  to  those  who  have  come  from  Tegucigalpa 
here  to  meet  us,  and  I  propose  their  health,  their 
long  life,  their  prosperity,  and  their  happiness. 


Reply  of  His  Excellency  Mariano  Vasquez,  Minister 
for  Foreign  Affairs. 


[Translation.] 

MR.  SECRETARY  : 

With  enthusiasm  I  have  transmitted  to  the 
President  of  the  Republic  the  expressions  of  cor 
diality  addressed  by  you  to  him  and  to  Honduras. 

The  entire  country  will  receive  with  satisfaction 
your  friendly  words,  which  reveal  the  wise  policy  of 
the  acts  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States. 

The  convention  written  on  board  the  Marble- 
head,  which  put  an  end  to  a  conflict  among  the 
States  of  Central  America;  the  treaty  of  Washing 
ton,  which  stipulated  the  neutrality  of  Honduras 
and  removed  the  dangers  of  fresh  international  dis 
turbances  ;  and  the  Puerto  Cortes  conferences,  which 
extinguished  the  civil  war  recently  kindled  in  our 
country — all  through  the  amicable  mediation  of  your 
country — prove  that  you  are  interested  in  our  wel 
fare,  which  naturally  must  emanate  from  peace,  and 
that  on  all  occasions  you  have  advised  us  well. 

At  the  very  moment  that  you  hear  the  tumult 
of  our  fruitless  strife  we  hear  your  voice  urging 
us  toward  concord  and  peace. 

With  such  antecedents  it  is  impossible  for  Hon 
duras  to  welcome  any  malevolent  propaganda  which 
might  disturb  the  relations  it  cultivates  with  the 

79 


8O  HONDURAS. 

United   States   or  the   gratitude   it  owes  to  your 
Government. 

On  the  contrary,  we  are  endeavoring  to  make 
those  relations  even  more  intimate  and  to  attract 
a  useful  immigration,  which,  by  establishing  business 
interests,  will  strengthen  them  day  by  day. 

Honduras,  sir,  desires  peace,  a  stable  and  lasting 
peace,  in  order  to  develop  by  means  of  salutary 
work  all  the  elements  of  life  which  it  has  in  abund 
ance.  Consequently,  in  order  to  attain  this  desired 
end,  it  must  not  look  to  those  countries  for  inspira 
tions  which,  more  or  less,  have  always  lived  under 
the  scourge  of  war,  but  it  must  take  its  example 
from  your  Republic,  which  is  rich,  powerful,  and 
great,  owing  to  the  peace  and  order  so  wisely  main 
tained  since  the  first  days  of  its  independence. 

I  bear  special  instructions  from  the  President 
of  the  Republic  to  express  these  sentiments  of  frank 
cordiality  and  of  the  mutual  interest  of  our  coun 
tries.  And  both  he  and  each  one  of  us  are  deeply 
sorry  that  you  have  been  unable  to  observe  our 
country  at  closer  range.  Our  land  is  essentially 
mineralogical  and  is  likewise  capable  of  growing 
productive  plants  of  every  zone;  therein  are  forests 
rich  in  precious  woods,  rivers  flowing  over  sands 
of  gold.  With  your  sagacious  eye  you  would  have 
seen  the  land  where  a  people  now  debilitated  by 
misfortune  will  soon  be  transformed,  through  the 
efforts  of  its  sons,  into  a  rich  and  prosperous 
nation  by  the  fruitful  agency  of  toil,  and  then  you 


VASQUEZ.  8 1 

would  have  been  convinced  of  the  sincerity  of  our 
desire  of  peace. 

With  unfeigned  regret  we  learn  the  news  of 
your  proximate  departure.  So  numerous  have  been 
the  demonstrations  of  cordiality  with  which  you 
have  distinguished  us,  and  such  the  affection  you 
have  awakened  in  each  one  of  us,  that  in  pressing 
your  hand  for  the  last  time  we  shall  truly  regret 
the  separation. 

We  wish  you,  your  family,  and  party  a  happy 
voyage,  and  it  is  a  pleasure  for  me  to  assure  you 
that  we  shall  ever  remember  the  happy  moments 
when  we  had  the  satisfaction  of  having  on  our  shore 
the  cultured  and  distinguished  Mrs.  Knox  and  the 
trained  diplomat  who  guides  the  destinies  of  the 
great  Republic. 

s  105 6 


Speeches  in  Salvador 


Speech  of  His  Excellency  Manuel  Araujo,  Presi 
dent  of  Salvador,  welcoming  Mr.  Knox  at  San 
Salvador,  March  n,  1912. 


[Translation.] 

YOUR  EXCELLENCY  THE  SECRETARY  OF  STATE  : 

In  the  name  of  the  people  of  Salvador  and  of 
the  Government  over  which  I  preside  I  extend  a 
most  cordial  welcome  to  your  excellency.  Your 
presence  here,  at  this  time,  will  establish  an  epoch 
of  note  in  the  history  of  Central  America.  You 
bear  to  us  on  your  visit  of  courtesy  the  good  will  of 
a  great  nation,  one  of  the  most  powerful  races  of 
the  world.  We  acknowledge  your  visit  as  an  act 
of  regard,  and  I,  especially,  at  this  moment,  feel  the 
spirit  of  the  American,  the  Latin,  and  the  Indian 
stirring  upon  my  lips  to  enable  me  to  render  a  com 
plete  testimony  of  affection  to  your  great  nation, 
your  Government,  and  to  your  excellency.  Your 
country  exhibits  before  the  world,  as  a  great  and 
sovereign  nation,  the  glowing  example  of  the  liberty 
and  wisdom  of  your  privileged  race,  forming  an 
attractive  and  enviable  standard  for  all  other  peo 
ples.  We,  though  constituted  as  small  nationalties, 
possess  the  nobility  and  loftiness  of  purpose  engen 
dered  by  honor  and  faith  in  our  destinies;  and 
your  excellency  may  feel  assured  that  in  Salvador, 
as  throughout  all  Central  America,  there  burns 

85 


86  SALVADOR. 

brightly,  exceeding  brightly,  that  noble  ambition 
which  is  the  objective  point  of  all  cultured  peoples 
to  occupy  a  prominent  position  in  the  concert  of 
the  civilized  and  free  nations  of  the  globe.  Wel 
come,  most  honored  Mr.  Secretary,  as  also  your 
distinguished  family  and  your  brilliant  suite.  It  is 
our  desire  that  the  time  spent  by  you  in  this  section 
of  Central  America  may  be  agreeable,  and  that  the 
benefits  of  this  visit  may,  at  no  distant  day,  flower 
into  the  peace,  liberty,  and  progress  of  our  country's 
ensign. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


EXCELLENCY: 

I  come  to  your  country  not  in  the  capacity  of  a 
diplomatic  representative  but  by  the  direction  of 
the  President  of  the  United  States  as  the  bearer 
of  a  message  of  friendship  and  good  will  from  the 
American  people,  and  I  desire  to  express  to  Your 
Excellency  my  appreciation  of  the  cordial  and  en 
thusiastic  welcome  accorded  me  by  the  officials  of 
your  Government  and  the  people  of  Salvador. 

It  is  the  earnest  desire  of  the  President  and 
people  of  the  United  States  that  the  mutual  rela 
tions  between  our  two  countries  should  continue  to 
become  even  more  intimate  and  cordial  than  they 
fortunately  are  to-day.  I  earnestly  hope  that  Your 
Excellency  and  the  people  of  Salvador  may  con 
tinue  to  enjoy  that  happiness  and  prosperity  which 
Providence  up  to  the  present  time  has  so  bounte 
ously  accorded  you  and  them. 

87 


Speech  of  His  Excellency  Francisco  Duenas,  Min 
ister  for  Foreign  Affairs  of  Salvador,  at  a 
banquet  given  in  honor  of  Mr.  Knox  at  the 
National  Palace,  San  Salvador,  March  //,  1912. 


[Translation.] 

GENTLEMEN  : 

Invested  with  the  high  character  of  Secretary  of 
State  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  of 
North  America,  the  eminent  jurisconsult  and  states 
man  His  Excellency  Philander  C.  Knox  is  now 
visiting  us,  the  bearer  of  the  messages  of  friendship 
and  sympathy  which  the  powerful  Government  of 
the  White  House  sends  us  through  the  medium 
of  its  most  distinguished  representative. 

A  cause  of  veritable  satisfaction  is  the  visit  of 
him  who  comes  preceded  by  so  conspicuous  re- 
*noun,  for  it  involves  the  generous  and  noble  idea 
that  new  bonds  of  friendship  well  understood  must 
continue  to  bind  these  Governments  closer  together 
and  because  this  is  a  happy  occasion  to  evidence  to 
our  illustrious  guest  the  pacific  and  progressive  evo 
lution  which  is  going  on  in  Salvador,  thanks  to  the 
highly  patriotic  spirit  of  the  Government  presided 
over  by  Dr.  Araujo  and  to  the  wisdom  and  high 
ideals  of  the  Salvadoran  nation,  which  in  its  inter 
nal  political  construction  embraces  lofty  principles 
of  liberty  and  order,  and  of  peace  and  intimate 

88 


DUENAS.  89 

communion  with  the  sister  nations  of  the  Isth 
mus,  under  the  symbolic  aegis  of  its  democratic 
institutions. 

Salvador,  like  all  the  countries  of  Central 
America,  has  a  great  example  to  imitate  in  the 
American  people,  both  for  their  untiring  spirit  of 
advancement  in  all  spheres  of  human  life,  and  for 
their  constant  and  gigantic  industry,  which  has  placed 
them  on  the  pinnacle  of  greatness;  or,  rather,  for 
their  eminently  republican  doctrines,  which  have 
been  sustained  and  vouched  for  by  characters  of 
the  type  of  Washington,  Jefferson,  Madison,  and 
Lincoln,  who  are  the  stars  that  shine  by  the  side  of 
others  in  the  political  sky  of  that  marvelous  center 
of  modern  civilization.  Salvador,  in  a  salutary  com 
munication  of  ideas,  will  have  much  to  avail  itself 
of  and  learn  from  the  people  who  disseminate 
civilization  by  the  currents  of  their  material  and 
intellectual  culture,  who  owe  their  immense  evolu 
tion  to  the  well  advanced  and  admirably  defined 
progress  of  liberty  and  law ;  like  a  compass  which 
marks  a  changeless  route  for  the  peoples  who  follow 
fruitful  ideals  in  the  realization  of  their  immortal 
destinies  in  the  immense  trajectory  of  the  centuries. 

The  Government  of  Salvador  expects,  as  a 
pleasing  reality,  that  the  visit  with  which  His 
Excellency  Mr.  Knox  honors  us  so  exceedingly  to 
day  will  have  beneficial  and  practical  results  for  the 
rapprochement  and  concord  of  both  peoples  and 
Governments,  which  will  open  a  new  era  in  inter 
national  friendship,  as  his  courteous  visit  is  in  the 


9O  SALVADOR. 

nature  of  a  frank  refutation  of  the  unfounded 
prejudices  of  those  who  have  not  had  the  fortunate 
opportunity,  as  we  have,  of  hearing  and  admiring 
the  most  noble  ideas  of  peace  and  friendship  which 
he  presents  to  us,  ideas  of  which  His  Excellency  the 
North  American  Secretary  of  State  is  the  distin 
guished  bearer,  coming,  with  his  words  of  fraternity 
and  his  honoring  presence,  on  a  mission  of  courtesy, 
bearing  in  one  hand  the  olive  branch  of  peace 
and  in  the  other  the  heraldic  emblem  of  the 
noble  and  just  friendship  of  the  American  Gov 
ernment  and  people,  who  do  us  this  high  honor  of 
sending  us  fraternal  messages  through  the  medium 
of  their  highest  representative. 

Let  us  drink,  gentlemen,  to  the  glories  of  the 
American  people;  to  His  Excellency  President 
Taft;  to  the  most  worthy  Secretary  of  State,  Mr. 
Knox;  to  his  most  distinguished  lady  and  brilliant 
suite — and  on  raising  our  glasses  in  their  praise  let 
us  raise  also  our  hearts,  which  burn  with  the  sacred 
flame  of  pure  patriotism,  thus  responding  with  frank 
cordiality  to  the  homage  which  His  Excellency  the 
Secretary  of  State  of  the  great  Republic  pays  us 
by  his  visit. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


MR.  PRESIDENT,  LADIES,  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

It  is  with  the  feeling  of  sincere  gratitude  that  I 
desire,  on  my  own  behalf  and  on  the  part  of  the 
people  and  Government  of  the  United  States,  to 
express  thanks  for  the  courteous  and  cordial  hospi 
tality  you  have  so  generously  lavished  upon  me  and 
upon  my  family. 

It  is  indeed  a  pleasure  for  me,  Mr.  President, 
to  come  from  my  countrymen  as  the  bearer  of  a 
message  of  their  good  will  and  friendship  to  the 
people  of  Salvador. 

Although  the  smallest  of  all  the  American  re 
publics,  Salvador  has  much  of  which  it  may  justly 
feel  proud.  Early  among  the  Central  American 
republics  to  proclaim  its  independence  and  to 
embark  in  the  struggle  for  national  emancipation, 
Salvador  has  always  given  to  the  world  a  whole 
some  example  as  a  peace-loving  and  industrious 
people.  With  its  dense  population  and  small  area 
its  people  have  found  it  advantageous  and  even 
necessary  to  seek  new  fields  of  occupation  and  are 
gradually  spreading  into  the  neighboring  republics, 
there  to  engage  in  the  pursuit  of  agriculture,  and 
lands  theretofore  unproductive  promptly  respond 
to  the  sturdy  and  capable  hand  of  the  enterprising 
Salvadoran  who  has  gone  peacefully  to  promote 
their  industrial  conquest. 

91 


92  SALVADOR. 

Salvador  is  the  only  sovereign  nation  of  the 
Northern  Continent  of  the  Western  Hemisphere 
which  does  not  border  on  both  oceans,  and  the 
opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  will  shorten  by  some 
10,000  miles  the  journey  by  water  between  Acajutla 
and  New  York,  which  should  naturally  be  one  of 
the  chief  markets  for  Salvadoran  products.  The 
United  States  is  not  only  the  greatest  producing 
nation  but  likewise  is  the  greatest  consuming  nation 
of  the  world,  and  as  soon  as  the  products  of  Central 
America,  by  being  popularized  in  the  United  States, 
become  sufficiently  known,  and  the  facilities  for 
transporting  them  thither  are  made  adequate,  the 
trade  with  our  Caribbean  neighbors  will  grow  and 
develop  to  an  enormous  extent. 

The  people  of  the  United  States  have  been  too 
ignorant  of  our  southern  neighbors,  their  vast, 
undeveloped  resources,  and  the  measures  they  have 
taken  to  open  themselves  to  the  world. 

If  we  are  to  enjoy  with  them  the  satisfactions  of 
international  friendship,  the  advantages  of  interna 
tional  trade,  and  the  blessings  of  peace  we  must 
give  more  consideration  to  the  means  by  which 
these  advantages  are  brought  about.  Friendship 
and  peace  are  indeed  the  common,  if  not  inevitable, 
consequences  of  commercial  intercourse  and  result 
from  reciprocal  dependence  of  countries  upon  each 
other's  products,  sympathies,  and  assistance. 

I  have  heretofore  elsewhere  in  my  journey 
spoken  of  the  possibilities  of  greater  reciprocal 
helpfulness  between  the  United  States  and  the 


KNOX.  93 

other  American  republics.  This  might  take  the 
form,  in  part,  of  more  generous  measures  of  com 
mercial  reciprocity  between  them.  This,  it  seems, 
would  be  a  natural  expression  of  their  mutual  inter 
dependence.  In  speaking,  some  two  years  ago,  of 
the  spirit  and  purpose  of  American  diplomacy  I 
then  expressed  the  hope  that  the  commerce  be 
tween  the  United  States  and  its  southern  neigh 
bors,  which  makes  so  powerfully  for  friendship, 
might  be  adjusted  on  a  more  reciprocal  basis. 

The  total  annual  trade  of  the  Central  American 
states,  not  including  Panama,  with  the  United 
States  now  amounts  to  something  like  $22,500,000. 
An  idea  as  to  what  extent  this  commerce  is  capable 
of  development  and  expansion  may  be  obtained  by 
recalling  for  a  moment  what  has  taken  place  with 
regard  to  the  commerce  of  Mexico,  whose  close 
relations  with  the  United  States  have  so  materially 
contributed  to  the  rapid  development  of  an  enor 
mous  volume  of  trade. 

Picture,  then,  the  possibilities  of  these  Central 
American  republics  and  pause  for  a  moment  to 
consider  that  Salvador,  in  proportion  to  its  area, 
produces  more  by  far  than  any  of  its  neighbors, 
and  some  faint  idea  may  then  be  obtained  of  the 
magic  to  be  worked  by  the  closer  intercourse 
between  them  and  the  United  States. 

By  far  the  most  active  sphere  of  American 
diplomacy  to-day  is  that  of  our  relations  with  the 
twenty  other  republics  of  the  Western  Hemisphere. 
Most  of  these  republics  are  passing  through  an 


94  SALVADOR. 

evolution  similar  to  our  own — that  of  the  peopling 
and  developing  of  vast  areas  and  the  attempt  to 
perfect  republican  government  under  similar  insti 
tutions.  Now  that  so  many  of  the  republics  to 
the  south  of  us  have  achieved  government  as  stable, 
as  enlightened,  and  as  responsible  as  our  own,  it 
becomes  more  and  more  incumbent  upon  the  citi 
zens  of  the  United  States  to  know  and  appreciate 
them. 

Nothing  could  have  gratified  me  more  than  the 
sentiment  the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  has 
just  expressed  when  he  said :  The  Government  of 
Salvador  expects,  as  a  pleasing  reality,  that  my  visit 
to-day  will  have  beneficial  and  practical  results  for 
the  rapprochement  and  concord  of  both  peoples  and 
Governments,  which  will  open  a  new  era  in  inter 
national  friendship  and  is  in  the  nature  of  a  frank 
refutation  of  unfounded  prejudices.  It  is,  indeed, 
the  supreme  purpose  of  my  visit  to  show  that 
upon  our  part  there  is  no  justification  or  substantial 
reason  for  prejudice  or  misunderstanding  between 
the  people  of  the  United  States  and  the  people  of 
Central  America.  What  we  both  sorely  need  is 
that  the  truth  about  Central  America  and  Central 
Americans  and  of  their  high  civilization  and  lofty 
purpose  and  graceful  and  dignified  hospitality  should 
reach  the  United  States  through  unpolluted  sources 
and  that  the  truth  as  to  the  motives  and  friendliness 
of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  should 
reach  you  without  wicked  perversion.  Then,  in 
deed,  would  our  countries  and  our  peoples  be 


KNOX.  95 

unhampered  in  our  advancement  in  the  paths  of 
rectitude  and  trustful  confidence  to  higher  levels 
of  welfare  and  beneficial  association.  By  such 
advances  the  stature  of  equality  tends  gradually  to 
become  as  real  as  the  equality  of  sovereignty  and  to 
reach  the  high  level  of  stability,  justice,  and  modera 
tion  and  mutual  responsibility  which  now  happily 
characterize  the  relations  between  Salvador  and  the 
United  States. 

With  its  beautiful  and  health-giving  mountain 
ranges,  fertile  and  productive  valleys,  dense  and 
labor-loving  population  dedicated  to  peaceful  pur 
suits,  Salvador  presents,  Mr.  President,  a  spectacle 
which  irresistibly  merits  the  admiration  of  every 
foreigner  whose  good  fortune  it  may  be  to  touch 
these  shores  and  justifiably  inspires  with  pride  the 
heart  of  every  true  son  of  Salvador. 


VI 


Speeches  in  Guatemala 


S  I05 7  97 


Speech   of  Mr.  Knox   upon   his   reception   by  the 
President  of  Guatemala,  March  14,  1912. 


MR.  PRESIDENT  : 

I  received  on  the  quarter-deck  of  the  Maryland 
this  morning  the  courteous  message  of  welcome 
which  you  sent  to  me  by  the  distinguished  gentle 
men  whom  I  had  then  the  honor  to  meet.  From 
that  moment  to  the  present  nothing  but  expressions 
and  evidences  of  the  most  cordial  and  general  hos 
pitality  have  met  my  ear  and  my  eye  upon  every 
side.  I  construe  this  to  indicate,  Mr.  President, 
that  you  and  your  Government  and  your  people 
accept  in  its  true  meaning  the  purpose  of  the  Presi 
dent  and  people  of  the  United  States  in  sending 
me  to  your  country  as  a  messenger  of  friendliness 
and  good  will.  The  intimate  relations  and  friend 
ship  that  have  heretofore  happily  existed  between 
our  two  countries  must  necessarily  grow  closer  and 
stronger  as  Pan-American  civilization  develops,  and 
they  will  be  much  accelerated  by  the  completion  of 
the  great  commercial  highway  at  Panama,  which 
will  in  a  peculiar  sense  draw  the  republics  of  this 
hemisphere  closer  together.  I  beg  you  to  accept 
my  thanks,  the  thanks  of  my  party,  and,  through 
us,  of  the  people  and  President  of  the  United  States 
for  this  dignified  and  courteous  reception,  and  to 
assure  you  that  I  am  encouraged  to  believe  that  our 

99 


IOO  GUATEMALA. 


short  stay  among  you  will  be  most  pleasant  and 
profitable  to  us,  and,  I  trust,  likewise  conducive  to 
the  closer  union  and  better  understanding  between 
the  peoples  of  the  two  Republics. 


Reply  of  the  President  of  Guatemala. 


[Translation.] 

MR.  SECRETARY  OF  STATE: 

The  cordial  words  I  have  just  heard  from  your 
excellency's  lips  fill  me  with  the  liveliest  satisfac 
tion,  since  they  express  your  appreciation  of  the 
sincere  demonstrations  of  good  will  and  affection 
which  my  Government,  in  the  name  of  the  people 
of  Guatemala,  has  offered  to  you  upon  your 
arrival  in  this  country,  which  is  enjoying  in  these 
moments  the  great  honor  of  being  visited  by  the 
representative  of  a  nation  with  which  my  country 
happily  cultivates  such  good  and  friendly  relations. 

As  the  cradle  and  champion  of  American  free 
dom,  as  the  flowing  fount  of  human  progress  and 
the  potent  arm  of  labor,  the  American  Union 
merits  the  respect  and  esteem  of  every  nation  and 
the  affection  of  those  who  can  interpret  the  senti 
ments  with  which  its  statesmen  and  thinkers  are 
inspired.  From  day  to  day  it  unfailingly  makes 
new  conquests  in  every  branch  of  human  activity. 
Its  influence  is  bringing  about  closer  relations 
between  the  nations  of  the  continent,  and  the  per 
fect  harmony  which  has  always  characterized  its 
relations  with  Guatemala  justifies  the  enthusiasm 
with  which  the  Government  of  this  Republic  wel- 

101 


IO2  GUATEMALA. 

comes  your  excellency  as  a  messenger  of  concord 
and  affection  from  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  to  the  nations  surrounding  the  Panama 
Canal,  which,  upon  the  completion  of  this  gigantic 
work,  will  be  more  intimately  linked  with  the 
great  Republic  of  the  north  by  new  ties  of  com 
merce  and  culture. 

In  wishing  your  excellency  and  the  distin 
guished  persons  who  accompany  you  on  your  visit 
the  most  pleasant  stay  among  us,  I  beg  that  you 
please  give  to  His  Excellency  the  President  of  the 
United  States  the  thanks  of  the  people  and  the 
Government  of  Guatemala  for  the  honor  conferred 
upon  them  by  the  visit  of  His  Excellency  the  Sec 
retary  of  State  of  that  nation,  and  present  to  him 
my  wishes  for  his  personal  happiness  and  the  wel 
fare  and  prosperity  of  the  American  people. 


Speech  of  His  Excellency  Luis  Toledo  Herrarte, 
Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  of  Guatemala, 
at  a  banquet  given  in  honor  of  Mr.  Knox  at 
Guatemala  City,  March  14,  1912. 


[Translation.] 

GENTLEMEN  : 

The  just  rejoicing  of  the  people  and  the  Gov 
ernment  of  Guatemala  in  welcoming  to  their  midst 
His  Excellency  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United 
States  is  but  the  natural  consequence  of  the  broth 
erly  love  inspired  by  the  powerful  Republic  of  the 
north  which  for  more  than  a  century  has  been  the 
paladin  of  American  freedom,  and  constitutes  a  tes 
timony  of  the  great  value  we  attach  to  the  visit  of 
so  eminent  a  continental  personality.  Under  such 
happy  circumstances  Guatemala  can  not  forget  the 
aid  which  her  nascent  sovereignty  encountered  a 
hundred  years  ago  in  the  United  States,  nor  the 
good  and  loyal  friendship  she  has  fostered  for  it 
during  all  her  independent  life  and  which  is  so 
brilliantly  confirmed  on  the  present  occasion. 

The  American  Union  has  won  for  itself  the 
esteem  and  admiration  of  all  the  civilized  world  for 
its  progress,  which,  marked  with  letters  of  gold  in 
the  world's  history,  demonstrates  clearly  the  possi 
bilities  of  the  combination  of  liberty  and  labor.  It 
is  an  exemplar  in  modern  ages  to  the  younger 

103 


IO4  GUATEMALA. 

nations  and  worthy  of  study  by  even  the  older  coun 
tries,  which  in  things  politic,  as  shown  in  the 
French  Revolution,  can  adopt  the  principles  of  the 
assembly  of  Philadelphia  and  in  industry,  com 
merce,  and  science  apply  to  their  respective  needs 
the  product  of  the  marvelous  progress  realized  by 
this  wonderful  country  in  every  branch  of  human 
activity. 

A  cyclopean  work,  as  though  the  manifold  ones 
already  accomplished  were  not  enough,  will  soon 
proclaim,  with  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal, 
the  greatness  and  the  power  of  American  genius. 
Thanks  to  the  efforts  of  man,  the  obstacle  placed 
by  nature  between  the  two  great  seas  of  the  world 
will  be  demolished  for  the  benefit  of  the  peoples  of 
both  hemispheres;  and  following  this  stupendous 
conquest  of  labor  the  activities  of  the  universe  will 
revolve  as  though  around  the  axis  and  center  of 
the  globe,  and  the  nations  on  each  side  will  see  the 
rapid  development  of  their  resources  and  of  the 
numberless  elements  of  life  which  nature  so  prodi 
gally  has  lavished  upon  them. 

In  this  proximate  evolution  a  special  place  be 
longs  to  Guatemala,  included,  as  it  is,  in  the  con 
tinental  zone,  where  the  influence  of  the  Panama 
Canal  will  most  be  felt,  and  thus  once  more  will 
American  initiative  and  effort  be  the  promoters  of 
the  growth  of  the  industry  and  commerce  of  our 
Republic. 

The  trade  relations  of  Guatemala  with  the 
United  States  have  grown  to  such  proportions, 


HERRARTE.  IO5 

with  the  facilities  offered  by  railroads  and  steamship 
lines,  that  during  the  last  few  years  there  is  no  nation 
with  which  our  country  has  maintained  more  active 
commerce  or  a  more  valuable  interchange  of  the 
products  of  the  soil  and  industry. 

The  interest  of  American  merchants  and  manu 
facturers  in  our  Republic  becomes  keener  every 
day,  finding  new  outlets  and  new  practical  mani 
festations,  thus  giving  rise  to  the  most  intimate 
and  perfect  relationship,  which  in  this  way  effec 
tively  makes  for  a  more  binding  intimacy,  which 
both  countries  by  mutual  effort  wish  to  bring  about, 
since  they  happily  are  united  by  identic  sentiments 
of  cordiality  and  good  understanding. 

Men  of  peace  and  good  will  direct  the  Govern 
ments  of  the  nations  whose  flags,  now  intertwined, 
symbolize  their  amicable  intercourse,  and  a  mes 
senger  of  peace  and  cordial  feeling  is  the  illustrious 
statesman  who  honors  us  with  his  presence  in  this 
country,  and  whom  the  Government  of  Guatemala 
receives  and  welcomes  with  the  heartiness  and 
sympathy  which  is  due  the  free  American  people 
and  to  the  Government  which  so  skillfully  guides 
its  destinies. 

Gentlemen,  while  offering  this  homage  in  the 
name  of  the  Government  of  the  Republic  to  His 
Excellency  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the  United 
States  and  the  distinguished  persons  of  his  party 
who  accompany  him,  I  ask  you  to  drink  with  me 
to  the  uninterrupted  greatness  of  the  United  States, 
to  the  personal  happiness  of  its  worthy  President, 


IO6  GUATEMALA. 

and  to  the  welfare  of  its  eminent  representative, 
who  has  come  to  make  so  eloquent  a  public  demon 
stration  of  the  friendship  of  the  American  people 
and  Government  for  the  people  and  Government  of 
Guatemala. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  MR.  MINISTER: 

You  may  have  thought  it  strange  that,  after 
the  courteous  toast  of  the  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  I  did  not  rise  during  the  playing  of  your 
national  air.  I  wanted  to  arise  alone  and  thus 
distinctively  and  by  word  of  mouth  to  pay  my 
respects  to  the  beautiful  strains  of  your  noble 
national  hymn.  One  can  not  travel  long  in  this 
genial  clime  without  exhausting  his  vocabulary  of 
grateful  expressions  and  thanks.  I  have  much  to 
be  thankful  for,  much  to  be  grateful  for,  since  I 
came  to  Central  America.  From  Panama,  the  most 
southern  of  the  Isthmian  republics,  through  Costa 
Rica,  Nicaragua,  at  Honduras,  Salvador,  and  finally 
here,  where  I  am  to  say  good-by  in  this  beautiful 
country  of  Guatemala,  I  have  received  nothing  but 
sympathetic  kindness;  and  perhaps,  Mr.  Minister, 
one  of  the  things  I  should  be  most  thankful  for  is 
that  when  I  was  landed  in  your  beautiful  country 
in  a  basket  in  a  not  particularly  dignified  manner, 
when  my  legs  were  reaching  for  something  firm 
upon  which  T  might  rest,  and  I  was  embarrassed  by 
my  own  awkwardness,  my  eyes  lighted  upon  your 
friendly  countenance  and  that  of  your  charming  wife, 
whose  acquaintance  I  had  enjoyed  in  Washington, 
and  I  at  once  felt  quite  at  home.  My  journey  to 

107 


IO8  GUATEMALA. 

this  city  to-day  has  been  one  of  continuous  delight. 
Your  country  surprises  me  with  its  beauty  and  its 
friendliness.  The  hospitality  of  your  people  cheered 
me.  I  was  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land,  and  noth 
ing  to  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land  is  so  encouraging 
as  welcome  smiles  from  those  who  meet  you  along 
the  highway.  Not  only  did  the  adult  population 
of  your  country  greet  us  cordially,  but  what  touched 
me  most  was  the  little  children  in  their  tidy  cos 
tumes,  whose  countenances  beamed  with  a  genuine 
welcome,  for  there  is  no  feigned  hospitality  in  the 
countenance  of  the  children ;  and  here,  Mr.  Presi 
dent  and  Mr.  Minister,  permit  me  to  say  that  in 
the  education  of  your  children  you  are  laying  an 
unperishable  foundation  for  institutions  of  liberty. 
You  are  building  for  Guatemala  a  foundation  upon 
which  tyranny  and  oppression  and  injustice  can 
never  rest. 

Mr.  Minister,  you  spoke  of  the  Convention  at 
Philadelphia,  referring,  of  course,  to  the  Constitu 
tional  Convention,  which  constructed  that  great 
piece  of  statesmanship,  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  which  any  American  can  say  proudly 
and  not  immodestly  is  probably  the  greatest 
political  instrument  that  has  ever  been  constructed 
by  man.  The  authors  of  our  Constitution  were 
not  solving  the  problems  of  North  America  alone; 
they  were  solving  the  problems  of  the  Western 
Hemisphere.  To-day  nearly  one  hundred  and  three 
score  millions  of  people  residing  upon  the  Western 
Hemisphere  (and  that  represents  90  per  cent  of 


KNOX.  109 

its  entire  population)  are  engaged  in  trying  to 
perfect  the  problem  of  popular  government,  and 
the  men  who  worked  out  the  first  Constitution 
that  has  withstood  the  shocks  of  almost  one  hun 
dred  and  twenty-five  years  were  not  only  working 
out  our  problem,  but  they  were  working  out  yours. 
It  was  a  great  thing  for  the  world  that  for  fifty 
years  prior  to  the  Convention  in  Philadelphia,  in 
the  colonies  of  North  America,  the  best  talent 
of  that  day  was  given  to  the  study  of  the  princi 
ples  of  government.  The  works  of  the  great 
writers  upon  political  science  of  that  epoch  had 
been  closely  studied  for  fifty  years  prior  to  the 
American  Revolution  with  a  diligence  and  purpose 
unparalleled  in  any  other  country  or  at  any  other 
time.  To  illustrate:  It  has  been  said  on  the  best 
authority  that  important  political  writings  found  a 
larger  sale  and  closer  perusal  in  the  colonies  of 
North  America  than  they  found  in  any  part  of 
Europe.  You  of  Latin  America  have  received,  and 
you  will  continue  to  receive,  the  benefits  of  those 
studies  and  our  experiment.  You  were  not  long 
behind  us  in  demanding  self-government,  and  when 
the  time  came  when  you  determined  to  strike  for 
freedom  and  to  follow  the  example  of  your  north 
ern  brothers  we  were  instantaneous  in  our  sympa 
thetic  recognition  of  your  claims.  We  sustained 
you  by  recognition  when  the  great  powers  of  the 
world  looked  askance  upon  the  American  system 
of  government,  whose  merits  they  now  so  frankly 
concede.  We  stood  by  you  in  your  infancy;  we 


110  GUATEMALA. 

have  endeavored  to  encourage  you  in  your  rapidly 
maturing  growth;  and  I  am  here  in  your  country 
to-night  to  say  to  you,  not  only  upon  my  own 
responsibility  but  speaking  for  the  President  of  the 
United  States  and  for  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  that  we  have  but  one  thought  for  all  of  the 
sister  republics  of  America,  and  that  is  that  we  want 
you  to  prosper,  we  want  you  to  grow,  we  want  you 
to  be  stronger,  we  want  you  to  be  always  peaceful. 
That  is  the  message  that  I  bear  to  Guatemala 
to-night;  that  is  the  sentiment  which  is  indorsed 
by  the  best  elements  of  my  country ;  and  I  want  to 
assure  the  people  of  Guatemala,  and  I  want  to 
assure  you,  Mr.  President,  that  in  your  efforts  for 
your  people,  in  your  sincere  endeavors  to  develop 
your  country,  in  your  desire  to  expand  your  friend 
ship  and  to  form  closer  and  more  binding  ties  with 
other  nations  of  the  world,  Guatemala  has  the 
sympathy,  as  it  will  always  have,  where  possible, 
the  cooperation,  of  the  United  States. 


Speech  of  Senor  Don  Arturo  Ubico,  President  of  the 
Legislative  Assembly,  to  Mr.  Knox  on  his  recep 
tion  by  that  body  at  Guatemala  City,  March  75, 
1912. 

[Translation.] 

HONORABLE  MR.  SECRETARY: 

It  is  for  me  a  great  honor  and  a  great  pleasure 
to  present,  in  the  name  of  the  Legislative  Assem 
bly  of  the  Republic,  our  most  cordial  salutation 
to  His  Excellency  the  Secretary  of  State  of  the 
United  States  of  America  and  welcome  him  to  the 
midst  of  this  representative  body  of  the  nation, 
thanking  him  at  the  same  time  for  the  courteous 
deference  with  which  he  has  accepted  the  distinc 
tion  accorded  in  his  honor,  the  only  one  of  the 
kind  in  the  annals  of  our  parliamentary  history,  and 
which  is  due  not  only  to  the  high  personal  endow 
ments  of  so  honorable  a  guest,  but  also  because  of 
his  labors  in  favor  of  all  America,  and  because  he 
is  now  representing  in  this  country  the  American 
people,  who  have  given  us  proof  of  their  frank  and 
loyal  friendship,  and  the  Government  of  that  illus 
trious  nation,  which  has  always  treated  us  with  the 
most  intense  and  fraternal  interest. 

As  nature  has  placed  the  Republic  of  the  United 
States  at  the  head  of  the  continent,  so  the  intelli 
gence  of  its  sons  and  their  constant  endeavor  have 

in 


112  GUATEMALA. 

placed  it  at  the  head  of  the  civilization  of  America, 
and,  ipso  facto,  it  is  morally  bound  before  the 
world  to  secure  the  peace,  the  union,  and  concord 
of  all  the  American  nations  as  a  fundamental  basis 
for  the  development  of  their  culture  and  their 
prosperity  and  as  an  indispensable  preparation  to 
carrying  out  satisfactorily  the  high  ends  and  impor 
tant  destinies  which  the  future  holds  in  store  for 
them. 

Some  years  ago  prominent  men  of  America, 
inspired  with  the  ideals  of  Monroe,  strengthened 
still  more  the  basis  of  an  essentially  Pan-American 
policy ;  and  to-day  we  see  this  policy  converted  into 
a  reality  and  raised  to  the  category  of  a  truly  official 
institution,  which  has  already  given  excellent  re 
sults  in  the  economic  order  of  Latin  America. 

Moreover,  a  stupendous  event  of  an  interest 
absolutely  universal,  soon  to  occur — the  interoceanic 
canal  across  the  Isthmus — would  in  itself  justify, 
without  regard  to  the  wonderful  works  of  civiliza 
tion  the  world  already  owes  to  the  United  States, 
special  manifestations  of  the  good  will  and  the 
gratitude  of  the  nations  of  the  Caribbean  Sea,  which 
are  so  especially  benefited  by  that  gigantic  work. 

From  this  is  to  be  deduced  that,  although  sepa 
rated  from  the  United  States  by  ethnological  in 
fluences,  that  country  is  beloved  and  respected  by 
us,  and  our  geographical  position  in  the  center  of 
the  Western  Hemisphere  binds  us  by  ties  that 
are  strong  and  firm  and  of  great  practical  impor 
tance  in  the  strenuous  life  of  modern  intercourse; 


UBICO.  113 

and  well-understood  patriotism  advises  us,  therefore, 
that,  without  forgetting  our  firm  friendship  for  other 
nations,  we  should  nevertheless  always  maintain 
with  the  United  States  a  policy  of  preferential  and 
especial  harmony,  good  understanding,  and  intimate 
cordiality,  founded,  quite  naturally,  on  reciprocal 
justice  and  loyal  frankness;  and  I  ask  your  excel 
lency,  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  this  Republic, 
please  so  to  inform  the  Government  and  people  of 
North  America,  and  that  you  also  deign  to  receive 
the  sincere  wishes  we  extend  for  their  welfare  and 
for  the  personal  happiness  of  your  excellency. 

s  105 8 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


Permit  me,  Mr.  President,  to  acknowledge  and 
to  thank  you  for  the  unprecedented  honor  the  Na 
tional  Assembly  of  Guatemala  has  accorded  me  in 
receiving  me  in  its  midst  to-day,  thereby  furnishing 
an  additional  evidence  of  the  high  regard  in  which 
the  people  and  Government  of  Guatemala  hold  my 
country  and  its  people. 

Your  felicitous  reference  to  the  great  doctrine 
announced  by  President  Monroe  nearly  a  hundred 
years  ago,  which  has  since  that  time  been  solicit 
ously,  scrupulously,  and  unswervingly  adhered  to  by 
the  Government  of  the  United  States,  has  been  a 
source  of  great  satisfaction  to  me,  and  leads  me,  on 
passing  through  the  last  Central  American  Repub 
lic,  to  reiterate  what  I  said  on  landing  at  Panama, 
and  that  is  that  "in  my  judgment  the  Monroe  Doc 
trine  will  reach  the  acme  of  its  beneficence  when  it 
is  regarded  by  the  people  of  the  United  States  as 
a  reason  why  we  should  constantly  respond  to  the 
needs  of  those  of  our  Latin-American  neighbors 
who  may  find  necessity  for  our  assistance", 

Guatemala  is  to  be  highly  congratulated  because 

of  her  appreciation  of  the  fundamental  fact  that  in 

many  things  the  highest  interests  of  the  State  can 

be  advanced  by  friendly  coordination  with  other 

114 


KNOX.  115 

sovereign  states  in  relation  to  matters  of  interna 
tional  common  concern.  Guatemala's  friendly  par 
ticipation  in  the  centennial  celebration  of  her 
neighboring  republics  and  highly  valuable  partici 
pation  in  the  conferences  and  congresses  dealing 
with  matters  affecting  Pan-American  interests  and 
her  prompt  ratification  of  the  conventions  pro 
viding  for  the  unification  of  currency,  weights,  and 
measures,  and  the  improvement  of  the  consular 
service  of  Central  America,  are  evidences  of  high 
international  purposes  and  show  an  appreciative 
realization  of  the  fact  that  intelligent  international 
cooperation  tends  to  advance  the  brotherhood  of 
nations.  This  has  been  one  of  the  high  purposes 
and  most  consistent  policies  of  jthe  United  States, 
and  we  have  endeavored  in  such  matters  to  act  in 
concert  with  the  other  powers  and  to  recognize  the 
same  high  duty.  Not  only  does  such  international 
cooperation  advance  civilization  and  improve  the 
relations  between  States,  but,  as  I  have  heretofore 
ventured  to  observe,  will  hasten  the  time,  which  I 
sincerely  believe  the  future  holds  in  store,  when 
war  shall  cease ;  when  the  nations  of  the  world  shall 
realize  a  federation  as  real  and  vital  as  that  now 
subsisting  between  the  component  parts  of  a  single 
state;  when  the  deliberate  international  conjunc 
tion  of  the  strong  shall  universally  help  the  weak ; 
and  when  the  corporate  righteousness  of  the  world 
shall  destroy  the  habitations  of  injustice  still  linger 
ing  in  the  dark  places  of  the  earth. 


Il6  GUATEMALA. 

Those  ends  so  much  to  be  desired,  and  so  benefi 
cial  to  humanity,  are  accelerated  by  the  recognition 
of  national  interdependence  and  such  international 
coefficiency  as  the  statesmen  of  your  country  have 
encouraged  in  the  matters  to  which  I  have  alluded. 


Speech  of  Senor  Licenciado  Don  Manuel  Cabral, 
Dean  of  the  University  of  Guatemala,  when  con 
ferring  a  degree  upon  Mr.  Knox,  March  15, 
1912.  

[Translation.] 

YOUR  EXCELLENCY: 

The  significant  'fact  of  having  among  its  mem 
bers  the  most  eminent  personalities  in  the  divers 
branches  of  human  wisdom  has  ever  been  an  honor 
and  a  glory  to  scientific  and  literary  institutions, 
and  because  of  this  the  most  learned  universities  of 
Europe  and  America  have  been  proud  to  have  in 
scribed  in  their  registers  the  most  illustrious  of  the 
wise  men  of  the  world.  This  is  a  pride  all  the 
more  legitimate,  inasmuch  as  science  and  letters  do 
not  recognize  frontiers  and  are  the  bonds  which 
unite  in  fraternal  intellectuality  the  minds  which, 
by  their  culture,  nobly  represent  their  respective 
countries. 

To-day  one  of  the  most  notable  figures  of  the 
great  American  Nation  arrives  upon  Guatemalan 
soil,  and  this  institution  of  learning,  heir  of  our 
ancient  and  glorious  university,  the  true  alma  mater 
of  Central  America,  feels  immense  satisfaction  and 
considers  the  inscription  of  the  enlightened  name 
of  your  excellency  in  the  catalogue  of  the  persons 
already  there  an  event  of  inestimable  value,  and  I 

117 


Il8  GUATEMALA. 

have  the  honor  to  clothe  you  with  the  highest  of 
our  academic  titles,  with  the  grade  of  Doctor  of 
Laws  of  the  Facultad  de  Guatemala.  At  the  same 
time  this  center  of  science  wishes  to  tender  you  its 
homage  of  sympathy,  respect,  and  admiration  for 
the  great  qualities  which  adorn  you,  and  which 
make  you  one  of  the  most  distinguished  citizens  of 
the  most  populous  of  democracies  and  an  illustrious 
lawyer  who,  at  home  and  abroad,  adds  so  much 
brilliancy  to  the  American  forum. 

Guatemala  and  the  United  States,  your  excel 
lency,  have  always  conserved  the  most  perfect 
friendship.  Never  has  even  the  lightest  cloud 
arisen  to  darken  the  clear  horizon  of  our  countries, 
and  these  relations  of  cordial  amity  have  been 
strengthened  of  late,  thanks  to  the  frequency  of 
our  intercourse,  to  the  better  understanding  of  our 
peoples,  to  greater  mutual  intimacy  owing  to  their 
common  ideas  and  aspirations,  to  the  daily  increas 
ing  commerce,  and  to  the  wisdom  and  patriotism 
of  our  respective  Governments,  who,  by  the  recti 
tude  of  their  acts  and  the  faithful  performance  of 
their  international  duties,  have  succeeded  in  main 
taining  between  the  two  peoples  an  unbroken 
peace,  which  is  the  fountain  of  all  happiness  and 
all  progress. 

The  Facultad  de  Derecho  y  Notariado,  an  im 
portant  organism  of  the  State,  charged  with  arous 
ing  and  fomenting  among  its  citizens  the  love  of 
institutions  and  of  the  study  of  law,  which  is  the 
principal  base  of  national  felicity,  is  not,  nor  can  it 


CABRAL.       .  IIQ 

be,  unconscious  of  this  good  understanding,  and 
now  that  one  of  the  most  illustrious  citizens  of  the 
great  land  of  Washington  and  Lincoln  honors  our 
country  with  his  visit  it  takes  the  keenest  pleasure 
in  proffering  him  this  humble  evidence  of  its  affec 
tion  and  its  respectful  appreciation. 

May  your  excellency  deign  to  favor  it  with  your 
acceptance  as  a  souvenir  of  your  visit  to  Guatemala. 
We,  in  our  turn,  shall  ever  guard  your  name  with 
respectful  affection  among  the  members  of  our  pro 
fession,  and  the  day  in  which  you  honored  us  by 
permitting  us  to  inscribe  your  name  prominently  in 
our  register  will  be  an  imperishable  memory. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  FACULTY: 

The  unprecedented  act  of  this  ancient  seat  of 
learning  in  conferring  upon  me  the  honorary  degree 
of  Doctor  of  Laws,  with  notarial  powers,  is  an  honor 
of  which  I  am  indeed  proud.  If,  as  I  understand 
my  informants,  at  no  time  and  to  no  one  has  the 
university  extended  so  marked  an  evidence  of  its 
good  will,  it  is  a  distinction  of  such  an  unique 
character  that  while  I  feel  unworthy  of  receiv 
ing  it  I  am  sure  I  shall  always  bear  it  in  graceful 
remembrance. 

The  law  was  my  first  love,  and,  although  she  has 
always  been  termed  a  " jealous  mistress",  yet,  after 
a  quarter  century  of  devotion,  I  was  lured  away  by 
the  blandishments  of  political  life,  but  I  am  not 
without  hope  that  time  holds  for  me  the  good  for 
tune  of  a  return  to  the  profession. 

Let  me  again  express  to  you,  gentlemen  of  the 
Faculty  of  the  National  University  of  Guatemala, 
my  gratitude  and  my  thanks. 

120 


Speech  of  His  Excellency  Estrada  Cabrera,  Presi 
dent  of  Guatemala,  at  a  banquet  given  by  him 
to  Mr.  Knox,  March  16,  1912. 


[From  Diario  de  Centre  American  of  March  19,  1912. — Translation.] 

It  was  indeed  a  happy  thought  of  His  Excel 
lency  the  President  of  the  United  States  of  America 
to  intrust  to  his  worthy  Secretary  of  State  the 
mission  of  frank  and  loyal  friendship  which  confers 
upon  us,  in  addition  to  the  honor  of  having  him 
among  us,  the  truly  singular  pleasure  and  satisfac 
tion  derived  from  the  fact  that  one  of  the  most 
eminent  citizens  of  the  New  World  bears  to  Guate 
mala  a  message  of  fraternity  and  good  will  from 
the  American  people. 

The  relations  of  intimate  sympathy  and  mutual 
attraction  which  have  always  been  carefully  culti 
vated  by  both  peoples  and  Governments  tend  each 
day  to  produce  most  flattering  results  through  a 
reciprocal  understanding  in  official  matters,  through 
the  better  acquaintance  of  their  respective  citizens 
with  each  other,  and  through  the  development  of 
commerce,  which  not  only  consists  in  an  interchange 
of  products  of  the  soil  and  industry  but  which  also 
disseminates  ideas  of  civilization  and  progress. 

I  value  and  take  pleasure  in  the  presence  of  His 
Excellency  Mr.  Knox  in  this  country  to  the  fullest 

121 


122  GUATEMALA. 

extent  and  he  can  not  do  otherwise  than  inspire  my 
utmost  appreciation  of  it.  It  constitutes  a  pledge 
of  greater  intimacy — which  has  always  been  my 
prayer,  and  I  am  happy  to  see  it  realized — between 
Guatemala  and  the  United  States,  as  the  immediate 
result  of  geographic  situation,  of  historical  condi 
tions,  and  of  hopes  for  the  future,  which,  combined, 
constitute  a  collection  of  facts  and  principles  which 
controls  the  evolution  of  the  twenty-one  sister 
republics  of  the  Western  Hemisphere. 

While  experiencing  the  extreme  pleasure  of  the 
moment,  I  am  especially  pleased  to  perform  the 
grateful  duty  of  expressing  my  sincere  thanks  to 
His  Excellency  Mr.  Knox  for  his  delicate  courtesy 
in  that  he  is  accompanied  by  persons  dearest  to  the 
sentiment  of  a  highly  cultured  gentleman ;  and  may 
I  be  permitted  to  render  the  homage  of  my  respect 
ful  esteem  to  the  distinguished  Mrs.  Knox,  who, 
together  with  her  estimable  children,  honors  us  by 
participation  in  the  demonstrations  which  Guate 
mala  is  so  happy  to  offer  to  the  great  Republic 
through  its  eminent  representative. 

It  gives  me  honor  and  pleasure  to  drink  to  the 
ever-increasing  prosperity  of  the  United  States  of 
America,  to  the  personal  felicity  of  His  Excellency 
President  Taft,  and  to  that  of  his  eminent  Secre 
tary  of  State  and  Mrs.  Knox. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


MR.  PRESIDENT,  LADIES,  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

Permit  me,  in  my  own  behalf  and  in  the  name 
of  my  countrymen,  to  thank  you  for  the  cordial 
welcome  and  bountiful  hospitality  you  have  ex 
tended  to  me  and  to  my  family. 

Beginning  for  the  fourth  time  the  journey  from 
ocean  to  ocean  in  Central  America,  it  is  with  a 
feeling  of  regret  that  I  realize  that  the  brevity  of 
the  time  at  my  disposal  does  not  permit  me  to 
travel  more  extensively  through  these  countries, 
to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  the  wonderful  scenery 
which  so  beautifully  reflects  the  magic  touch  of  the 
lavish  hand  of  nature,  and  to  gain  the  educational 
advantages  which  observation  and  friendly  commu 
nication  with  the  people  so  abundantly  afford. 

Guatemala,  in  its  position  of  close  proximity  to 
the  United  States,  where  there  is  ever  ready  an 
eager  market  for  its  products,  and  with  its  dense 
population,  occupies,  indeed,  an  enviable  position 
among  the  Central  American  nations.  This  posi 
tion  will  be  rendered  increasingly  desirable  as  time 
goes  on  and  the  development  of  your  country's 
enormous  possibilities  is  accomplished.  And,  Mr. 
President,  I  may  here  remark,  without,  I  am  sure, 
indulging  any  view  not  equally  shared  by  yourself, 
that  the  continuous  development  and  permanent 

123 


124  GUATEMALA. 

advancement  of  the  Republic  depend  on  its  stable 
economic  conditions  as  well  as  upon  its  domestic 
content  and  consequent  repose.  The  unvarying- 
friendship  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
for  republican  institutions  in  this  hemisphere  and 
its  desire  to  see  them  conserved  free  from  interfer 
ence  are  too  well  known  and  understood  to  need 
words  of  reassurance  from  me.  From  the  very 
inception  of,  and  even  before  the  independence  of, 
the  Latin-American  nations  the  attitude  of  the 
American  Government,  which  later  was  unmistak 
ably  announced  by  President  Monroe,  was  well 
known  and  it  continues  undiminished  to  the  pres 
ent  day. 

In  Central  America  the  United  States  has  a 
special  interest  not  only  because  of  the  proximity 
of  the  five  republics  to  the  great  commercial  high 
way  now  nearing  completion  in  Panama,  but  also 
because  of  its  moral  obligations  under  the  Wash 
ington  conventions.  The  maintenance  of  peace 
and  stable  conditions  in  these  republics  is  a  matter 
of  first  importance  to  my  Government.  The  faith 
ful  observance  of  these  conventions  will,  in  the 
opinion  of  my  Government,  go  far  toward  the 
elimination  of  the  turmoil  that  has  hitherto  shaken 
the  very  foundations  of  some  of  the  less  fortunate 
and  less  tranquil  countries. 

It  is  the  sincere  and  candid  desire  of  the  United 
States  to  maintain  and  advance  to  an  even  higher 
degree  frank  and  cordial  relations  with  all  the 
republics  in  this  hemisphere,  and  to  that  end  the 


KNOX.  125 

President  directed  my  present  mission  that,  by  per 
sonal  contact,  I  might  become  better  acquainted  with 
the  men  who  direct  the  destinies  of  these  states,  in 
order  thereby  to  promote  better  understanding  and 
mutually  advantageous  relations.  That  the  friend 
ship  of  my  Government  toward  these  states  is  frank 
and  sincere  needs  no  demonstration  other  than  a 
consideration  of  the  record  of  the  past,  and  no  words 
from  me  can  half  so  eloquently  deal  with  the  situa 
tion  or  manifest  the  true  attitude  of  my  Government 
as  can  its  acts  toward  its  sister  republics.  The 
United  States,  unfortunately,  has  many  times  been 
misrepresented  in  the  past  by  those  unscrupulous 
persons  who,  through  an  endeavor  to  promote  their 
own  gain,  falsely  represent  the  sentiments  of  the 
American  people  with  regard  to  this  or  that  nation 
of  Central  America. 

It  is  a  matter  for  rejoicing  to  everyone  having 
faith  in  the  great  destinies  of  this  continent  to 
observe  that  in  this  Republic  a  large  stretch  of 
steel  way  which  will  at  some  time,  in  the  not  far 
distant  future,  connect  the  capitals  of  all  the  sister 
states  of  this  continent  with  each  other  has  been 
completed.  The  completion  of  the  Central  Ameri 
can  link  will  be  the  first  step  in  the  grand  project 
of  the  three  Americas'  trunk  line  from  New  York 
to  Buenos  Aires.  With  the  proximate  inaugura 
tion  of  the  Guatemalan  section  of  this  system  there 
will  be  through  railway  connection  from  New  York 
to  Guatemala  City. 

The  effect  of  a  through  trunk  line  of  railroad  on 


126  GUATEMALA. 

the  countries  of  Central  America  would  be  to  sow 
the  prolific  seed  of  communication  in  rich  districts 
and  the  consequent  development  of  mutual  com 
merce  and  the  advantageous  exploitation  of  bound 
less  native  resources.  To  this  great  central  artery 
the  transverse  lines  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific, 
acting  as  feeders,  would  contribute  to  swell  the 
international  traffic. 

In  conclusion,  Mr.  President,  allow  me  to  in 
dulge  the  hope  that  the  relations  between  our 
respective  countries  may  become  increasingly  cor 
dial  and  close,  to  the  mutual  benefit  of  both,  and 
for  your  warm  welcome  and  your  cordial  and  grace 
ful  hospitality  and  entertainment  to  sincerely  thank 
you. 


VII 


Speeches  in  Venezuela 


127 


Speech  of  Dr.  Marquez  Bustillos,  Governor  of  the 
Federal  District,  at  the  Municipal  Council, 
Independence  Hall,  Caracas,  March  23,  1912, 
in  welcoming  Mr.  Knox. 


EXCELLENCY: 

The  municipality  and  the  people  of  Caracas,  in 
the  name  of  whom  I,  as  governor  of  the  Federal 
District,  have  the  honor  to  address  you,  feel  great  and 
singular  pleasure  in  welcoming  you  to  this  spot,  a 
place  of  cherished  remembrances  in  the  struggles 
which  form  our  political  history.  In  you  we  greet 
the  illustrious  statesman  who  brings  us  as  a  pledge 
of  friendship  words  from  the  country  of  the  im 
mortal  Washington,  he  who  was,  and  with  justice 
is  called,  "the  first  in  peace,  the  first  in  war,  the  first 
in  the  hearts  of  his  countrymen". 

While  thanking  your  excellency  for  the  honor 
you  confer  upon  us  by  your  visit  to  the  Govern 
ment  and  to  the  municipality  of  the  Federal  Dis 
trict,  we  pray  for  your  personal  happiness  and  for 
that  of  all  the  persons  of  your  distinguished  party, 
and  hope  that  the  impressions  which  you  take  away 
upon  parting  may  be  pleasant  and  lasting. 

s  105 — 9  129 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


EXCELLENCY : 

I  had  not  known  until  I  entered  this  hall,  sacred 
not  only  to  the  liberty  of  Venezuela  but  to  all  of 
Latin  America,  that  the  great  honor  was  to  be  done 
to  me  of  permitting  me  to  speak  in  this  distinguished 
presence.  It  would  be  a  cold  heart  that  would  not 
throb  with  the  highest  emotions  standing  in  this 
sacred  place.  This  noble  scene,  depicted  upon  can 
vas  in  the  background,  is  a  reenactment  of  one  in 
our  own  history  that  is  sacred  to  every  American, 
be  he  a  North  or  South  American,  because,  after 
all,  we  were  but  a  short  time  before  you  in  our 
aspirations  for  liberty  and  in  our  declaration  of 
independence.  Your  excellency  has  been  kind 
enough  to  wish  that  my  sojourn  among  you  should 
be  pleasant.  I  am  frank  to  say  that  in  the  short 
time  that  we  have  been  upon  your  hospitable  soil 
one  act  of  kindness  has  crowded  another  act  of 
kindness  so  rapidly  that  one's  vocabulary  of  grati 
tude  and  appreciation  is  inadequate  to  meet  such  a 
splendid  ovation.  I  wish  to  proceed  from  this  hall, 
dedicated  to  the  holy  cause  of  liberty,  with  my 
suite  to  the  adjacent  park  and  there  lay,  as  an  evi 
dence  of  the  appreciation  of  the  American  Gov 
ernment  and  the  American  people,  a  wreath  at  the 
foot  of  Bolivar,  the  great  Liberator  of  the  South. 
130 


Remarks  of  Mr.  Knox  upon  placing  a  wreath  at 
the  foot  of  the  statue  of  Bolivar  in  Caracas, 
Venezuela^  March  23,  1912. 


MR.  MINISTER: 

In  the  name  of  the  people  and  of  the  President 
of  the  United  States  I  beg  to  lay  this  token  of 
appreciation,  respect,  and  veneration  at  the  foot 
of  the  statue  of  the  great  Venezuelan  Liberator. 

[Remarks  of  Mr.  Matos,  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs,  were  extempore  and  not  taken.] 


Speech  of  His  Excellency  Manuel  A.  Matos,  Min 
ister  for  Foreign  Affairs  of  Venezuela^  at  a 
banquet  given  to  Mr.  Knox  at  Miraflores, 
March  24,  1912. 


MR.  MINISTER: 

I  comply  with  the  instructions  of  the  President 
of  the  Republic  to  tell  you  that  your  presence 
amongst  us  is  regarded  with  the  greatest  satisfac 
tion  by  the  Government  and  people  of  Venezuela. 
Upon  selecting  you  to  visit  these  countries  in  its 
name  your  Government  has  furnished  fresh  evidence 
of  the  friendly  interest  which  they  inspire,  tend 
ing  thus  to  strengthen  the  bonds  which  bind  us  to 
the  country  of  Washington  and  Lincoln. 

Your  visit,  Mr.  Minister,  must  further  serve  to 
make  better  known  in  your  country  the  conditions 
of  vitality  of  our  own,  thus  accentuating  sentiments 
of  mutual  respect  and  consideration  and  developing 
at  the  same  time  on  a  larger  scale  our  commercial 
relations.  It  is  a  further  step  in  the  fruitful  work 
of  Pan-Americanism  which  our  Liberator  sought 
to  accomplish  in  his  beautiful  conception  of  the 
Congress  of  Panama  and  which  the  United  States 
is  supplementing  with  a  perseverance  worthy  of  the 
genius  of  your  noble  race. 

A  principal  factor  of  this  union  of  the  peoples  of 
America  so  necessary  to  the  high  aims  of  human 
132 


MATOS.  133 

progress  will  be  the  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal, 
which  will  not  only  bring  nearer  the  East  and  the 
West,  uniting  the  two  oceans,  but  which  will  also 
draw  closer  together  the  republics  of  South  and 
Central  America  and  the  great  Republic  of  the 
north,  giving  a  new  and  vigorous  impulse  to  civiliza 
tion  resulting  from  the  interchange  of  the  products 
and  ideas  of  all  the  regions  of  the  world. 

Venezuela,  being  situated  on  the  route  to  Eu 
rope,  will  be  one  of  the  nations  most  benefited  by 
that  colossal  work  of  American  endeavor  from  which 
we  perceive  a  new  element  of  progress  which  will 
permit  us  to  develop  further  the  sources  of  our 
natural  wealth  and  to  better  show  our  character 
istics  of  nationality  on  the  American  union. 

Mr.  Minister,  the  blood  of  your  compatriots 
watered  the  foundations  of  Venezuelan  independ 
ence  and  the  recognition  of  our  country  has  been 
perpetuated  in  monuments  which  you  will  have 
occasion  to  see  at  Maracay  and  Puerto  Cabello.  This 
is  a  further  cause  for  the  regard  of  the  Venezuelan 
people  for  the  American  people,  a  regard  which  we 
have  no  doubt  must  be  strengthened  as  a  result  of 
your  visit  because  of  the  high  authority  and  repre 
sentation  with  which  you  are  invested  and  because 
of  your  remarkable  merits  as  a  statesman. 

Gentlemen,  in  the  name  of  the  President  of  the 
Republic,  I  invite  you  to  drink  to  the  prosperity  of 
the  America  people,  to  the  happiness  of  their  Presi 
dent,  His  Excellency  Mr.  Taft,  and  to  the  hope 
that  His  Excellency  Mr.  Knox  and  his  honored 


134  VENEZUELA. 

family,  during  their  brief  stay  amongst  us,  may 
have  reason  only  to  be  truly  pleased  and  that  they 
may  take  from  our  country  as  pleasing  and  lasting 
impressions  as  we  shall  have  to  retain  of  them. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

It  is  indeed  fortunate  for  me  that  the  burdens 
and  responsibilities  of  the  office  I  hold  are  tem 
pered  by  the  enjoyment  of  privileges  and  advan 
tages  which  would  not  otherwise  have  been  within 
my  reach.  Not  the  least  of  these  is  the  opportu 
nity  now  vouchsafed  to  me  of  coming  among  you, 
my  fellow  countrymen  of  the  Western  World,  with 
a  message  of  fraternal  good  will  from  the  Govern 
ment  and  people  of  the  northern  Republic.  I 
prize  this  privilege  beyond  measure,  and  the  more 
so  as  in  this  historic  land,  favored  by  nature  to  be 
the  fitting  cradle  of  the  new  birth  of  occidental 
empire  under  the  proud  Castilian  banner  of  its  first 
explorers,  I  feel  myself  among  friends.  The  ob 
stacles  of  distance,  of  diverse  ancestral  origin,  and 
of  dissimilar  language  disappear  with  the  warmth 
of  your  greeting.  The  Saxon  North  and  the 
Hispanic  South  meet  as  associates  in  the  com 
mon  cause  of  progress  and  peace,  alike  devoted 
to  the  common  duty  of  promoting  the  good  will 
and  the  mutual  confidence  and  esteem  which  draw 
the  democratic  commonwealths  of  America  into 
relations  of  true  brotherhood. 

The  auspicious  occasion  of  my  present  visit  is 
the  proximate  opening  of  the  great  canal.  This 

135 


136  VENEZUELA. 

stupendous  work,  the  dream  of  centuries,  since 
Balboa  first  trod  the  solitudes  of  Darien,  is  far 
more  than  a  commercial  enterprise.  It  is  a  great 
humanitarian  achievement,  fraught  with  endless 
possibilities  of  good  for  all  the  nations  of  the  con 
tinent.  It  opens  an  avenue  by  which  the  peoples 
of  the  eastern  and  western  coasts  of  the  northern 
and  southern  continents  are  brought  into  closer 
relation.  The  barrier  of  ages  becomes  the  high 
way  of  the  future,  not  for  the  devastating  advance 
of  conquering  hosts  but  for  the  beneficial  move 
ment  of  progress  and  development,  in  which  Vene 
zuela  can  not  but  take  an  important  part.  The 
diversion  of  a  vast  share  of  the  commerce  of 
Europe  and  America  to  the  new  channel  must  nec 
essarily  bring  benefit  to  the  neighboring  countries. 
The  already  intimate  intercourse  of  my  country 
with  yours  can  not  retrograde.  The  volume  of 
incoming  and  outgoing  commerce  between  Vene 
zuela  and  the  United  States  is  now  relatively  larger 
than  that  between  Venezuela  and  any  other  nation. 
Good  will  and  mutual  confidence  will  make  it 
actually  larger.  It  is  to  the  interest  of  Venezuela 
that  it  should  increase.  The  augmentation  of  the 
exports  of  a  vast  and  as  yet  but  partly  developed 
country  like  yours  is  a  stimulus  to  the  expanding 
development  of  its  natural  resources  and  the  growth 
of  economic  prosperity.  The  increase  of  its  im 
ports  is  the  natural  reflex  action  due  to  domestic 
prosperity.  It  is,  indeed,  an  index  of  national 
well-being.  Moreover,  advancement  of  home  in- 


KNOX.  137 

terests  makes  for  the  material  and  moral  uplifting 
of  the  country  and  is  the  surest  step  to  the  firm 
assurance  of  domestic  peace  and  stable  government, 
which  all  good  citizens  desire  and  for  which  they 
should  strive  whole-heartedly. 

In  coming  to  you  with  an  earnest  message  of 
peace  and  good  will,  I  am  especially  mindful  of  the 
historical  fact  that  the  political  and  traditional  sym 
pathies  of  the  United  States  and  Venezuela  are  in 
singularly  close  accord.  If  we  have  our  Washing 
ton,  you  have  your  Bolivar,  happily  styled  by  Henry 
Clay  as  the  Washington  of  the  South,  who  bore 
upon  his  breast  during  his  life  the  miniature  of 
Washington,  presented  to  him  through  Lafayette 
in  1825,  more  proudly  than  he  wore  the  insignia  of 
rank,  a  sentiment  you  have  respected  and  recorded 
upon  the  imperishable  and  noble  statue  erected  to 
Bolivar's  memory.  Bolivar  was  the  pioneer  in  the 
noble  work  of  upbuilding,  in  the  northern  region  of 
South  America,  a  free  commonwealth  like  ours  of 
the  North;  and  I  can  not  forget  that  the  vast  terri 
tory  which  Bolivar  liberated  embraced  the  broad 
reaches  of  the  Caribbean  and  the  Pacific,  including 
the  very  Isthmus  through  which  we  are  now,  as 
appointed  agents  for  the  benefit  of  all  the  Americas 
and  of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth,  opening  a  world 
highway.  Bolivar,  his  noble  work  achieved,  re 
garded  the  isthmian  barrier  with  regretful  eyes, 
feeling  in  his  great  heart  a  keen  longing  for  the 
accomplishment  of  the  century-old  dream  of  Latin 
America  that  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  might  in  time 


138  VENEZUELA. 

be  joined  by  a  pathway  through  the  land  whose 
freedom  he  had  won.  It  was  one  of  the  objects 
brought  before  the  Pan-American  Congress  of 
Panama  in  1826,  but  the  intelligent,  although  fruit 
less  and  perhaps  premature,  efforts  of  your  great 
Liberator  failed  to  mold  the  project  into  practical 
shape.  Let  us  believe  that  the  spirits  of  Bolivar 
and  Washington  are  sharing  our  mutual  felicitations 
over  the  approaching  realization  of  the  unparalleled 
task,  and  inspiring  us  all,  Venezuelans  and  Ameri 
cans  alike,  with  the  glad  resolve  to  know  each  other 
better,  to  strengthen  the  ties  of  mutual  confidence 
that  happily  exist  between  us,  and  to  give  lasting 
expression  to  that  sentiment  of  disinterested  help 
fulness  which  moves  the  two  peoples  to  live  in 
amity  and  essential  harmony,  each  rejoicing  when 
more  of  peace,  of  prosperity,  of  happiness,  and  of 
security  comes  into  the  life  of  its  brother  people. 


Farewell  speech  of  Mr.  Knox  to  His  Excellency 
Juan  Vicente  Gomez,  President  of  Venezuela, 
March  25,  1912. 


MR.  PRESIDENT: 

In  saying  good-by  to  you  I  wish  to  repeat  that 
which  we  have  tried  to  say  to  you  again  and  again 
and  which  we  feel  most  sincerely  and  deeply,  and 
that  is  that  you  have  our  profound  gratitude  for 
all  of  the  acts  of  kindly  courtesy  and  hospitality 
that  you  have  shown  us  since  we  have  been  in 
your  Republic,  and  we  shall  carry  home  with  us 
everlasting  recollections  of  satisfaction,  pleasure, 
enjoyment,  and  profitable  observation.  For  my 
entire  party  I  wish  to  emphasize  the  depth  of  our 
appreciation. 

I  have  been  asked  especially,  Mr.  President,  by 
the  representatives  of  the  American  press  who 
have  accompanied  us  upon  this  journey  to  say  to 
you  for  them,  and  with  as  much  sincerity  as  I  have 
endeavored  to  express  my  own  feelings,  that  they 
rest  under  the  deepest  debt  of  gratitude  not  only 
for  the  comforts,  recreations,  and  pleasures  you 
have  given  to  them,  but  for  the  particularly  per 
sonal  touch  that  you  have  given  to  every  courteous 
act  of  hospitality  of  which  they  have  been  the 
recipients. 

I   will  say  good-by,   and   I    hope  to    have  the 

pleasure  of  seeing  you  again. 

139 


Address  of  welcome  of  Senor  Don  Santiago  Gon 
zalez  Guinan,  President  of  the  State  of  Carabobo, 
delivered  at  Valencia,  March  25,  1912,  by  the 
Comandante  in  the  name  of  the  State  Executive. 


YOUR  EXCELLENCY  : 

It  would  have  been  a  pleasure. to  the  govern 
ment  of  the  State  and  also  to  the  people  of  Valen 
cia  to  present  its  respects  and  demonstrate  its 
sympathy  with  you  by  a  feast  of  greater  splendor, 
but  your  rapid  transit  through  the  city  scarcely 
affords  us  sufficient  time  to  offer  this  glass  of  cham 
pagne  in  the  station  park  and  without  other  orna 
ments  than  nature's  green  foliage  and  the  blue 
dome  of  a  tropical  sky,  and  this  is  possible  only 
through  the  consent  of  your  excellency  to  stop  a 
moment  in  spite  of  your  limited  time. 

In  thus  affording  me,  through  your  courtesy, 
the  opportunity  of  carrying  out  in  this  way  the 
part  of  the  program  assigned  to  me  by  the  Govern 
ment  of  Venezuela  in  connection  with  your  visit,  I 
take  occasion,  moved  both  by  my  personal  feelings 
and  the  natural  impulse  of  the  moment,  to  impress 
upon  your  mind  the  sincerity  with  which  I  drink 
to  the  welfare  of  your  wife,  the  lasting  memory  of 
your  trip,  the  reciprocal  cordiality  of  Presidents 
Gomez  and  Taft,  and,  lastly,  to  your  great  country, 
which  as  a  unique  instance  in  history  has  attained 
140 


GUINAN.  141 

to  a  conquest  of  rights  without  shedding  of  blood 
and  which,  in  the  midst  of  the  wonderful  develop 
ment  of  its  civilization,  fully  meets  the  aspirations 
of  the  human  race  in  the  unparalleled  progress 
of  its  democratic  institutions.  Your  excellency's 
health. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


MR.  COMANDANTE: 

No  program  of  entertainment  that  you  might 
have  devised  for  me,  and  I  know  how  well  Vene 
zuelans  do  devise  their  programs  of  hospitality, 
could  have  made  a  deeper  impression  upon  me 
than  the  one  I  see  before  me,  namely,  the  sight  of 
so  many  strong  men  and  so  many  beautiful  ladies. 
You  have  voiced  a  wish  that  my  visit  in  Venezuela 
should  have  been  a  pleasant  one.  We  have  not 
only  had  days  and  hours  of  pleasure,  but  one 
pleasure  has  crowded  another  so  rapidly  that  it  is 
almost  literally  true  that  every  moment  of  time 
that  we  have  spent  in  your  beautiful  country  has 
found  us  to  be  the  recipients  of  the  most  kindly 
hospitality,  of  the  best  of  good  cheer  not  only  from 
your  officials  and  those  who  may  have  been  desig 
nated  by  the  Government  to  extend  to  me  a  wel 
come,  representing  as  I  do  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  but  I  am  glad  to  say  that  I  have  been  able 
to  read  in  the  faces,  and  looking  into  the  eyes  of 
all  the  people  of  Venezuela,  a  welcome  which  I 
shall  never  forget. 

I  beg  to  propose  the  health,  the  happiness,  the 
peace,  and  the  prosperity  of  the  Republic  of  Vene 
zuela    and    its    generous,    hospitable,    and    kindly 
people. 
142 


Speech  of  Senor  Don  Jose  Felipe  Arc  ay,  Collector 
of  Customs  at  Puerto  Cabello,  Venezuela,  March 
25,  1912. 


YOUR  EXCELLENCY,  LADIES,  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

While  greeting  you  in  the  name  of  the  National 
Government  which  I  represent,  in  my  own,  and  in 
that  of  the  high  public  officials  who  accompany  me, 
it  is  most  pleasing  to  say  that  the  honor  you  confer 
upon  us  by  your  visit  is  a  source  of  true  satisfaction 
which  we  duly  appreciate,  not  only  because  we  con 
sider  it  a  special  demonstration  of  sincere  friendship 
for  our  Republic,  but  also  because  it  is  the  first  time 
that  an  American  Secretary  of  State  has  visited  our 
country  bearing  with  him  true  ideas  of  American 
unity,  strengthening  and  making  more  friendly,  if 
possible,  the  cordial  relations  existing  between  your 
Republic  and  ours. 

The  sincere  welcome  you  have  received  and  the 
demonstrations  of  deference  of  which  you  have  been 
the  object  by  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  nation, 
by  all  the  important  persons  of  his  Government, 
and  by  the  people  in  general,  are  unmistakable  proofs 
that  we  have  been  impressed  with  your  visit,  which 
greatly  honors  us.  We  are  certain  that  with  your 
clear  judgment  you  will  be  able  to  appreciate  the 
progressive  advance  which  our  industries,  our  agri 
culture,  and  in  general  all  the  branches  constituting 

143 


144  VENEZUELA. 

our  territorial  riches  are  making  under  an  era  of 
peace  wisely  founded  and  maintained  by  the  modest 
and  equally  patriotic  citizen  who  guides  the  des 
tinies  of  the  Republic,  Gen.  Juan  Vicente  Gomez. 

You  have  been  able  to  observe,  despite  the 
briefness  of  your  stay  among  us,  the  good  will 
which  animates  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  country 
toward  all  that  tends  to  its  aggrandizement,  and  in 
effect  he  is  taking  measures  to  the  end  that  the 
proximate  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal  will  find 
Venezuela  in  a  truly  prosperous  condition,  so  that 
we  may  advance  our  great  commercial  interests. 

We  drink,  therefore,  to  the  country  of  Wash 
ington  and  to  its  worthy  representative. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


MR.  COLLECTOR: 

It  will  be  a  pleasing  message,  sir,  that  I  will  be 
enabled  to  carry  to  the  President  and  people  of  the 
United  States  as  the  result  of  my  visit  to  Vene 
zuela.  President  Taft  conceived  in  his  mind  that 
because  of  the  early  opening  of  the  Panama  Canal 
the  relations  of  the  United  States  to  our  neighbors 
on  the  littoral  of  the  Caribbean  Sea  must  neces 
sarily  be  closer  and  more  intimate.  He  believed 
that  if  he  would  send  to  you  that  officer  of  the  Gov 
ernment  of  the  United  States  who  is  charged  with 
the  duty  and  responsibility  of  our  relations  with 
foreign  governments,  the  more  intimate,  direct, 
and  personal  acquaintance  would  be  an  advantage 
not  only  to  us  but  he  hoped  also  to  them;  and 
when  I  return  I  can  cheerfully  say  to  the  President, 
and  through  him  to  the  people  of  the  United 
States,  that  in  the  great  Republic  of  Venezuela 
from  the  moment  my  foot  first  touched  its  shores 
until  the  moment  when  I  said  to  you  my  last 
farewell  there  has  been  nothing  but  kindness  and 
hospitality,  not  only  upon  the  part  of  the  people 
but  upon  the  part  of  your  President,  to  whom  you 
have  referred,  and  who  has  been  kindness  itself  to 
us  all. 

s  105 — 10  145 


VIII 


Speeches  in  the  Dominican  Republic 


147 


Speech  of  Mr.  Knox  to  the  President  of  the  Domini 
can  Republic,  Santo  Domingo,  March  27,  1912. 


MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

In  fulfillment  of  the  wish  of  the  President  of 
the  United  States  that  I  should  personally  meet 
the  eminent  men  to  whom  the  people  of  the  neigh 
boring  Caribbean  countries  have  confided  the  reins 
of  government  and  that  I  should  enjoy  the  privi 
lege  of  becoming  better  acquainted  with  the  peo 
ples  of  those  countries,  it  is  my  good  fortune  to 
come  among  you  bearing  a  cordial  message  of  good 
will  from  the  Government  and  people  of  the  United 
States  to  their  comrades  in  the  community  of 
American  republics.  I  feel  especial  gratification 
in  being  enabled  for  the  first  time  to  breathe  the 
air  of  the  oldest  city  in  all  the  Americas,  identified 
for  all  time  with  the  undying  fame  of  Columbus, 
founded  by  the  great  Admiral's  brother ;  the  spot 
where  first  were  planted  the  fertile  seeds  of  civic 
order  and  of  Christianity  .in  the  great  western 
empire  of  the  peoples;  the  scene  of  the  untiring 
efforts  of  the  discoverer  to  found  an  enduring 
civilization ;  and  the  home  of  Las  Casas,  that  great 
and  good  man  who,  in  the  sixteenth  century,  stood 
forth  as  the  advocate  of  the  rights  of  man  and  who 
is  justly  revered  by  all  liberty-loving  Americans  as 
one  of  the  earliest  apostles  of  democracy  and 

freedom. 

149 


I5O  DOMINICAN    REPUBLIC. 

I  stand,  as  it  were,  in  the  passing  shadow  of  the 
bereavement  your  country  has  suffered  in  the  loss 
of  that  humble,  unselfish,  and  sincere  patriot, 
Ramon  Caceres,  slain  at  his  post  of  duty ;  but  I 
rejoice  to  see  the  passing  of  that  dark  cloud  with 
out  disturbing  the  normal  march  of  your  people  in 
the  broad  path  of  orderly  self-control.  It  is  an 
especial  satisfaction  to  me  that  I  can  say  this  to 
you,  men  of  Santo  Domingo,  who  are  in  a  posi 
tion  to  bear  witness  to  the  unfeigned  interest  the 
United  States  takes  in  the  welfare  and  stable  prog- 
gress  of  the  peoples  of  the  great  American  brother 
hood  ;  to  the  earnest  sympathy  we  feel  for  all  the 
younger  commonwealths  that,  like  your  own,  have 
passed  through  the  fires  of  tribulation  toward  a 
higher  and  better  national  life;  and  to  the  unselfish 
spirit  that  prompts  my  countrymen  and  the  Gov 
ernment  of  which  I  am  a  part  to  extend  a  ready 
helpfulness  to  all  who  are  prepared  and  willing  to 
help  themselves  to  win  stability  and  good  order  for 
themselves  and  for  their  posterity. 

Santo  Domingo  stands  to-day  a  bright  example 
to  all  the  Americas  and  to  the  world,  teaching  the 
lesson  that  all  free  peoples  are  fit  for  good  self- 
government  if  they  set  about  it  in  a  way  to  do  jus 
tice  to  themselves.  That  is  what  you  Dominicans 
have  done,  and  it  is  precisely  because  of  this  that 
my  country  was  enabled  to  lend  you  a  helping  hand 
in  order  to  strengthen  and  make  durable  the  rehabili 
tation  for  which  you  strove.  The  rapid  growth  of 
national  revenue  and  agricultural  resources  in  the 


KNOX.  151 

last  five  years  is  far  beyond  the  most  fervent  expec 
tations.  I  am  convinced  that  this  is  but  the  begin 
ning,  and  that  your  Republic  is  but  on  the  threshold 
of  still  greater  progress.  Your  position  among  the 
countries  of  the  western  seas  is  singularly  advanta 
geous.  Lying  on  the  avenues  of  approach  to  the 
Isthmian  Canal,  now  on  the  eve  of  completion, 
your  island  can  not  fail  to  share  in  the  prosperity 
that  will  attend  the  opening  of  a  highway  destined  to 
change  the  old  currents  of  international  commerce. 
I  have  had  recent  occasion  to  emphasize,  in 
public  addresses,  the  new  and  enlarged  responsi 
bilities  to  be  assumed  by  the  United  States  as  the 
patron  of  the  Isthmian  Canal,  and  as  the  upholder 
of  the  time-honored  doctrine  which  bears  the  name 
of  Monroe.  The  maintenance  of  that  doctrine  and 
the  effective  carrying  out  of  the  policies  that  flow 
therefrom  demand  a  peculiarly  intimate  coordina 
tion  of  trie  part  of  all  the  nations  which  are  to  reap 
the  far-reaching  benefits  of  the  canal.  It  behooves 
them  to  be  cooperative,  not  obstructive.  Each  is 
concerned  in  uplifting  itself;  each  is  benefited  by 
the  uplifting  of  its  neighbor.  No  more  signal  ob 
struction  could  be  interposed  in  the  path  of  general 
progress  than  for  any  of  the  affected  countries  to 
fall  into  disrepute  through  subversive  disturbances 
or  failure  to  discharge  its  international  obligations. 
No  greater  aid  can  be  given  toward  realizing  that 
general  welfare  for  which  we  all  strive  than  the 
solid  establishment  of  peaceful  prosperity. ;/  You, 
men  of  Santo  Domingo,  have  led  the  way  toward 


152  DOMINICAN  REPUBLIC. 

realizing  this  high  end  through  means  whereby  your 
country  may  continue  to  be  prosperous,  independ 
ent,  self-respecting,  and  entitled  to  the  respect  of  all. 

The  relations  of  friendship  and  cordial  inter 
course  which  have  always  existed  between  the 
United  States  and  Santo  Domingo  are  singularly 
close  and  have  worked  for  the  mutual  advantage 
of  both  countries,  thus  fulfilling  one  of  the  highest 
duties  of  neighborliness.  Flowing  through  natural 
channels,  their  reciprocal  commerce  has  thriven 
and  has  kept  afloat  one  of  the  few  lines  of  steamers 
that  have  survived  the  competition  of  foreign 
shipping. 

It  is  the  earnest  prayer  of  my  country  and  of 
my  countrymen  that  peace  and  freedom  may  be 
the  abiding  heritage  of  the  people  of  Santo 
Domingo ;  that  internal  perturbations  and  external 
conflicts  may  be  averted  by  wise  and  just  counsels 
at  home  and  in  your  foreign  relations. 

In  conclusion,  permit  me  to  express  how  deeply 
I  am  touched  by  your  cordial  welcome;  and,  feeling 
that  it  is  rather  the  people  of  the  United  States 
that  you  greet  than  my  individual  self,  I  thank  you 
in  the  name  of  my  fellow  citizens. 


Reply  of  President  Victoria. 


[Translation.] 

MR.  SECRETARY: 

The  presence  of  the  honorable  the  Secretary  of 
State  of  the  United  States  of  America  in  this 
capital  is  a  source  of  great  satisfaction  to  the 
Dominican  people  and  to  my  Government.  His 
official  visit  to  the  countries  of  Spanish  origin  is  a 
notable  event  in  the  history  of  these  young  republics. 

This  visit,  which  undoubtedly  must  be  profitable 
to  the  good  relations  so  happily  existing  between 
the  United  States  of  America  and  these  peoples, 
co-workers  in  the  cause  of  peace  and  progress,  will 
mark  an  epoch  in  the  history  of  our  international 
life — and  I  hope  that  it  may  result  thus  for  the 
good  of  all  and  the  glory  of  this  continent. 

Accept,  Mr.  Secretary,  the  most  cordial  wel 
come,  which  I  am  glad  to  extend  to  you  in  the 
name  of  the  Dominican  people  and  of  the  Govern 
ment  which  I  represent. 

153 


IX 


Speeches  in   Haiti 


155 


Speech  of  welcome  of  M.  Jerome  Salomon,  Mayor 
of  Port  ait  Prince,  on  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Knox, 
April  j,  1912. 


EXCELLENCY: 

To-day  offers  an  occasion  of  great  joy  to  the  city 
of  Port  au  Prince.  The  fame  of  a  fine  and  active 
intelligence  which  preceded  your  occupancy  of  the 
eminent  post  you  now  fill  would  alone  have  rendered 
you  worthy  of  the  most  cordial  reception  on  our 
part,  but  to  your  brilliant  personal  qualities  is  added 
your  official  title,  which  renders  your  visit  of  infinite 
value  to  us. 

Often  the  most  profound  sympathy  takes  its 
origin  in  a  mark  of  attention.  In  knowing 
each  other,  societies,  as  individuals,  develop  and 
strengthen  their  bonds  of  friendship.  Therefore, 
Mr.  Secretary,  your  thought  of  traveling  in  certain 
countries  of  this  hemisphere  was  a  happy  one. 
Within  a  short  time,  by  a  supreme  and  superb  effort 
of  man's  genius,  the  dream  which  the  Indian  pre 
viously  cherished  in  his  native  imagination — an 
interoceanic  canal — will  become  a  living  reality. 

Cities,  until  now  remote,  will  cease  to  be  such. 
But  with  the  geographical  rapprochement  an  inter 
communication  of  spirit  should  be  effected  in  order 
to  attain  that  excellent  relationship  of  "goodneigh- 
borliness,  mutual  aid,  consideration,  and  confidence" 

157 


158  HAITI. 

of  which  you  spoke  two  years  since  in  your  masterly 
address  at  Philadelphia. 

Human  demonstrations  are  of  supreme  worth 
when  directed  by  the  heart.  It  is  indeed  the  heart 
which  directs  at  this  time  the  great  satisfaction  felt 
in  this  capital  at  your  presence  and  that  of  the  inter 
esting  personages  accompanying  you. 

We  are  especially  appreciative  of  the  flattering 
tribute  rendered  us  in  affording  us  the  pleasure  of 
greeting,  in  conjunction  with  yourself,  Madam 
Philander  Knox,  whose  charming  kindliness  and 
courteous  grace  shine  with  such  splendor  in  your 
magnificent  Washington  receptions,  and  which  were 
so  admired  on  January  i,  last,  in  the  superb  dwelling 
of  the  Pan  American  Union. 

We  hope  that  your  excellency  will  take  the  same 
pleasure  in  your  sojourn  here  as  we  do  in  your 
friendly  testimonial  toward  the  first  city  of  this 
Republic. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


MR.  MAYOR: 

Speaking  for  myself,  sir,  and  for  the  members 
of  my  party,  I  wish  to  express  our  deepest  sense  of 
appreciation  for  the  cordiality  of  the  reception  by 
the  officials  of  the  Republic  of  Haiti,  and  I  wish  to 
place  especial  emphasis  upon  the  kindliness  and 
cordiality  with  which  we  have  been  received  by 
the  people  of  Haiti.  I  can  assure  you,  sir,  that  this 
has  been  no  more  gratifying  to  us  than  it  will  be 
to  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States  when  I  communicate 
to  them  the  character  of  our  reception  here  this 
morning.  You  have  stated  most  eloquently  one 
of  the  main  reasons  why  my  visit  here  is  one  that 
ought  to  be  not  only  of  advantage  to  you  but  of 
advantage  to  us,  and  that  is  the  necessity,  because 
of  the  proximate  completion  of  the  Panama  Canal, 
for  the  republics  and  the  peoples  that  are  to  be 
benefited  immediately  by  the  opening  of  that  great 
highway  to  be  brought  closer  together  through 
the  means  of  a  more  intimate  personal  acquaintance. 
I  am  more  than  satisfied  in  the  few  moments  that 
I  have  been  in  Haiti  that  my  visit  here  will  be 
eminently  agreeable.  Before  concluding,  sir,  I 
beg  to  express  for  Mrs.  Knox  her  and  my  own 

159 


l6o  HAITI. 

deep  appreciation  for  the  graceful  compliments 
you  have  paid  her  in  your  address  of  welcome  and 
for  all  of  us  our  gratitude  for  your  extreme 
cordiality. 


Speech  of  Mr.  J.  N.  Ltger,  Minister  for  Foreign 
Affairs  of  Haiti,  at  a  luncheon  given  by  him  to 
Mr.  Knox,  Port  au  Prince,  April  j,  1912. 


[Translation.] 

MR.  SECRETARY  OF  STATE: 

Upon  me  devolves  the  agreeable  duty  of  wel 
coming  you  and  of  thanking  you,  in  the  name  of 
the  Haitian  Republic,  for  your  esteemed  visit. 

This  is  the  second  time  that  an  American  Sec 
retary  of  State  has  honored  us  with  his  presence. 
The  present,  like  the  past,  with  the  folds  of  our 
flags  once  more  intertwined,  evokes  the  undying 
memory  of  Savannah,  where  the  heroes  of  Haitian 
independence  rivaled  in  bravery  the  intrepid  sol 
diers  of  Washington.  These  are  ties  which  can 
not  be  forgotten. 

I  am  particularly  happy  to  be,  under  the  cir 
cumstances,  the  mouthpiece  of  the  people  and 
Government  of  Haiti,  because  I  recall  the  tender 
friendship  which  marks  the  relations  between  our 
two  peoples.  And  your  visit,  all  the  more  valued 
on  account  of  the  presence  of  Mrs.  Knox,  can  not 
but  make  these  relations  the  more  cordial. 

If  upon  our  friendship  depends  the  pleasure  of 
your  sojourn  among  us  you  will  both  carry  from 
your  short  stay  in  Port  au  Prince  the  same  remem 
brance  which  I  retain  of  my  mission  at  Washington, 

s  105 ii  161 


1 62  HAITI. 

the  delicate  attentions  and  the  kindly  hospitality 
of  the  American  people,  and  I  do  not  think  it  too 
much  to  ask  that  you  please  convey  to  that  gener 
ous  people  and  to  their  Government  our  sincere 
wishes  for  the  prosperity  of  the  United  States. 

Permit  me  to  raise  my  glass  in  honor  of  Presi 
dent  Taft  and  to  drink  to  the  health  of  yourself 
and  Mrs.  Knox. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


MR.  MINISTER: 

It  is  always  a  great  pleasure  to  renew  an  old 
acquaintance.  You  can  imagine  how  much  that 
pleasure  is  enhanced  by  renewing  it  under  these 
delightful  auspices.  We  recall  with  great  pleasure 
your  mission  to  Washington,  where  you  were  ac 
companied  by  your  charming  wife  and  young  chil 
dren;  and  I  know  of  nothing  that  has  occurred 
since  I  have  been  in  your  hospitable  country  that 
has  given  me  more  pleasure  than  when  your  good 
wife  told  me  here  to-day  that  some  of  the  happiest 
moments  of  her  life  were  spent  in  Washington. 
My  pleasure  is  largely  increased  by  hearing  one 
who  sustains  the  same  relation  to  his  own  Govern 
ment  as  I  sustain  to  mine  express  the  deep  desire 
that  the  sympathies,  the  friendliness,  and  the  inter 
ests  of  the  two  countries  should  become  closer 
and  closer.  There  certainly  is  no  reason  why  the 
Republics  of  this  ancient  island,  which  was  the  seat 
of  American  civilization,  and  their  great  sister  of 
the  north  should  not  be  upon  the  best  of  terms.  I 
am  glad  to  say  that  I  know  of  no  reason  to  the 
contrary.  It  is  a  real  pleasure  for  me  to  propose 
the  health  of  the  President  of  the  Haitian  Republic, 
your  own,  Mr.  Minister,  and  that  of  your  good 
wife  and  your  family,  and  the  prosperity  and  peace 

163 


164  HAITI. 

of  your  people;  and  to  express  the  hope  that  they 
may  soon  reach  that  point  in  their  development  and 
prosperity  which  the  rich  endowments  of  nature 
entitles  them  to  attain. 


Speech  of  President  Leconte  of  Haiti  at  a  banquet 
given  to  Mr.  Knox,  Port  au  Prince,  April  j, 
1912. 

[Translation.] 

MR.  SECRETARY  OF  STATE: 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  reiterate,  in  the 
name  of  the  Republic  of  Haiti,  our  expressions  of 
cordial  welcome.  And  it  is  also  pleasing  to  feel 
that  your  presence,  at  this  time,  among  us  is  an 
unmistakable  evidence  of  the  interest  which  our 
great  sister  of  the  north  takes  in  us. 

You,  Mr.  Secretary  of  State,  have,  without 
doubt,  passed  through  countries  of  Latin  America 
that  are  richer,  more  prosperous,  than  ours;  a  wealth 
and  prosperity  which  consists,  to  a  large  degree,  in 
the  same  conditions  existing  when  those  peoples  of 
this  continent  won  their  independence. 

But  here  you  will  encounter  the  sincere  and 
loyal  expression  of  our  high  esteem  and  our  keen 
sympathies  for  the  people  and  Government  of  the 
United  States. 

Your  visit  to  us,  which  we  shall  cherish  as  a  most 
precious  remembrance,  will  certainly  strengthen  the 
bonds  of  intimate  friendship  which  unite  the  two 
countries,  tend  to  make  more  cordial  our  relations, 
and  to  develop  the  economic  interests  of  the  two 

nations. 

165 


1 66  HAITI. 

I  pray  that  you  deign  to  convey  my  personal 
respects  to  President  Taft,  and  that  you  please 
assure  him  that  the  Republic  of  Haiti  earnestly 
wishes  him  happiness  and  the  prosperity  and  great 
ness  of  the  American  people. 

I  thank  you,  Mr.  Secretary,  in  the  name  of  the 
Government  and  people  of  Haiti,  for  the  visit 
you  have  been  pleased  to  pay  us,  and  I  raise  my 
glass  in  honor  of  President  Taft,  to  your  health  and 
to  that  of  your  friends,  and  to  the  success  of  the 
mission  of  friendship  and  concord  which  you  have 
undertaken. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 


MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

A  glamour  of  historical  memories  hovers  over  the 
Caribbean  Sea,  and  all  who  feel  its  influence  long 
to  visit  the  spots  where  the  life  of  the  New  World 
began  with  the  landing  of  Columbus,  and  where  the 
foundations  of  government  in  the  Western  Hemi 
sphere  were  first  laid.  I  have  long  desired  to  see  and 
become  acquainted  with  the  island  world  of  the  In 
dies.  My  wish  has  come  to  pass  through  the  determi 
nation  of  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  have 
me  carry  to  the  neighboring  American  peoples  a 
fresh  message  of  friendship  and  good  will  in  the 
name  of  his  and  my  countrymen.  It  was  especially 
appropriate  that  the  President  should  do  this  now, 
on  the  eve  of  the  completion  of  the  Isthmian  Canal, 
and  that  the  theme  of  his  greeting  should  be  the 
benefits  to  flow  to  all  the  nations  of  the  three 
Americas  from  the  opening  of  that  stupendous 
channel  of  intercourse  which,  by  annihilating  the 
barrier  between  the  oceans,  must  perforce  change 
the  currents  of  the  world's  commerce. 

At  a  time  when  the  obligation  which  my  coun 
try  has  assumed  as  the  agent  of  the  interest  of  all 
America  and  of  the  world  in  creating  a  highway  for 
international  commerce  is  about  to  be  realized,  we 
are  impressed  with  the  conviction  that  the  fullest 

167 


1 68  HAITI. 

success  of  our  work  is,  to  a  notable  degree,  depend 
ent  on  the  peace  and  stability  of  our  neighbors  and 
on  their  enjoying  the  prosperity  and  material  wel 
fare  which  flow  from  orderly  self-development.  A 
community  liable  to  be  torn  by  internal  dissension 
or  checked  in  its  progress  by  the  consequences  of 
nonfulfillment  of  international  obligations  is  not  in 
a  good  position  to  deserve  and  reap  the  benefits 
accruing  from  enlarged  commercial  opportunities, 
such  as  are  certain  to  come  about  with  the  opening 
of  the  canal.  It  may  indeed  become  an  obstruction 
to  the  general  enjoyment  of  those  opportunities.  ,; 
It  is  with  political  communities  as  with  the 
human  organization,  body  and  soul  should  be  alike 
sound  and  sane,  each  attuned  to  the  other,  to  fit 
the  being  for  the  struggle  for  existence  in  which  it 
is  the  lot  of  men  and  states  to  be  constantly 
engaged.  The  old  Roman  adage  mens  sana  in 
corpore  sano  is  in  point  for  both.  Not  only  must 
the  body  politic  be  healthy,  but  the  public  spirit 
which  guides  its  acts  must  be  equally  healthy.  Only 
by  the  union  of  these  two  conditions  can  a  state 
hold  its  place  in  the  assemblage  of  nations,  or 
aspire  to  win  a  better  station. 

/  It  is  the  fervent  desire  and  the  earnest  hope  of 
the  nation  I  represent  that  all  its  comrades  of  the 
American  fraternity  shall  attain  to  this  well-balanced 
condition,  or  shall  conserve  it  where  already  pos 
sessed.  We  wish  to  see  them  all  independent, 
contented,  orderly,  and  materially  prosperous,  each 
gaining  the  fullest  measure  of  well-being  of  which 


KNOX.  169 

it  is  naturally  and  physically  capable,  each  bearing 
good  will  for  its  neighbors  and  deserving  their  good 
will  in  return.  We  begrudge  the  success  of  none ; 
on  the  contrary,  on  the  few  occasions  where  help 
fulness  is  possible  we  have  gladly  given  help.  '' 

The  relations  of  the  Haitian  Republic  with  the 
United  States  have  been  singularly  intimate  for 
many  years.  The  volume  of  American-Haitian 
trade  is  proportionately  large.  The  enterprise  of 
our  citizens  has  contributed  to  the  development  of 
Haitian  resources.  I  look  for  the  time,  not  far 
distant,  when  these  relations  may  be  expanded  and 
strengthened,  not  through  any  invasive  activity  on 
our  part,  but  through  the  steady  self-development 
of  the  resources  of  Haiti  under  the  benevolent  sway 
of  peacey/  Your  country  has  almost  incalculable 
native  wealth  at  command.  With  a  self-respecting 
energy  or  purpose;  with  a  contented  and  thrifty 
population ;  with  wise  counsels  in  the  seats  of  gov 
ernment,  devoting  the  efforts  of  the  nation  to  the 
great  work  of  internal  exploitation  of  natural 
resources  and  perfection  of  agricultural  methods; 
and  with  the  maintenance  of  peace,  without  as  well 
as  within,  you  Haitians  have  a  future  before  you 
which  other  less-favored  countries  might  well  envy, 
and  which  we  of  the  United  States  would  witness 
with  hearty  sympathy. 

I  have  a  disposition  to  emphasize  the  essential 
condition  of  peace,  at  home  and  abroad,  as  a  need 
in  working  out  the  material  improvement  of  a 
country.  While  it  is  doubtless  true  that  trade  and 


I7O  HAITI. 

trade  extension  are  the  foundation  in  practical  life 
of  most  advances  in  civilization,  yet  the  great 
modern  movements  of  accord  and  good  under 
standing  between  nations  are  after  all  the  lofty 
achievements  and  the  crown  of  all  international 
relations.  The  controlling  principle  of  these  move 
ments  is  peaceful  and  beneficial  international  inter 
course  and  a  peaceful  settlement  by  arbitration  of 
differences  and  controversies — extending  that  prin 
ciple,  by  friendly  diplomacy,  as  rapidly  as  possible 
to  embrace  an  increasing  number  and  variety  of 
disputes.  The  tide  of  world  sentiment  is  setting 
strongly  toward  the  accommodation  of  international 
controversies  by  processes  of  reason  and  justice; 
not  by  defiance  and  the  sword.  That  tide  is  sweep 
ing  over  my  own  country,  where  the  ideal  of  uni 
versal  peace  with  justice  is  dear  to  every  heart. 
Should  not  we,  of  the  common  brotherhood  of  all 
the  Americas,  share  alike  in  devotion  to  that  ideal, 
and  stand  mutually  helpful  toward  whatever  may 
assure,  by  pacific  means,  peace  and  good  will  among 
brethren  ? 

I  thank  you  for  the  cordial  personal  welcome 
you  have  given  me.  I  shall  long  treasure  the 
memory  of  my  visit. 


Speech  of  Mr.  Knox  at  a  breakfast  given  by  the 
Municipal  Council  at  the  Bellevue  Club,  Port 
au  Prince,  April  ^,  1912,  in  response  to  a  brief 
speech  of  introduction  by  the  Mayor. 


MR.  MAYOR: 

I  thank  you  very  much,  sir,  for  this  additional 
act  of  kindness,  and  we  have  been  the  recipients  of 
many  acts  of  kindness  since  we  have  been  in  Port 
au  Prince,  in  your  hospitable  country,  in  your  hos 
pitable  city,  and  among  your  hospitable  people. 
My  visit,  however,  would  not,  from  my  point  of 
view,  be  considered  an  entire  success  if  it  were 
merely  confined  to  pleasures  and  the  delights  of 
intercourse  with  the  people  of  this  city.  I  have 
observed  here  a  thing  that  makes  me  very  glad,  and 
that  is  that  the  Haitians  seem  to  have  realized  that 
industry  is  at  the  basis  of  prosperity  and  that  the 
object  of  their  Government  is  now  undoubtedly 
to  maintain  peace  at  home  and  peace  with  her 
neighbors,  so  that  industrialism,  which  is  the  sole 
foundation  of  wealth  and  prosperity,  shall  proceed 
uninterrupted.  You  seem  to  have  discovered,  as 
all  nations  must  discover  in  their  march  toward  the 
progress  of  which  they  are  capable,  that  the  true 
function  of  government  is  not  to  say  to  a  man, 
"Work  and  we  will  reward  you",  but  to  say  to  all 
of  its  citizens,  "Work  and  the  government  will 
secure  to  you  the  results  of  your  labor,  that  it  shall 

171 


172  HAITI. 

not  be  taken  away  from  you  by  violence  or  by  in 
justice".  You  have  discovered,  further,  I  believe, 
that  while  the  true  function  of  government  is  not 
what  I  have  just  described,  it  is  this  :  to  honestly 
collect  the  revenues,  as  lightly  tax  the  people  as  the 
necessities  of  the  government  demand,  and  then  to 
apply  these  revenues  honestly  for  the  best  interests 
of  the  country.  I  am  satisfied  from  a  conversation 
with  your  worthy  President  that  it  is  not  the  inten 
tion  of  this  administration  of  affairs  in  Haiti  to 
spend  the  substance  of  the  people  upon  unneces 
sary  military  establishments  but  extend  those  great 
public  improvements  which  make  the  life  of  every 
man  better. 

These  are  some  of  the  observations  I  have  made 
since  I  have  been  with  you,  though  the  time  has 
been  very  short  and  has  been  occupied  very  largely 
with  the  pleasures  of  the  visit,  but  I  shall  carry  them 
home  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  to 
the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  I  am  satisfied 
that  they,  with  me,  will  rejoice  that  everything  in 
Haiti  seems  to  be  on  the  upward  move.  I  beg  to 
pledge  the  health  of  the  President  and  people  of 
Haiti  and  their  prosperity. 


X 


Speeches  in  Cuba 


173 


Speech  of  Senor  Manuel  Sanguily,  Minister  for 
Foreign  Affairs  of  Cuba,  at  a  banquet  given  by 
the  President  of  Cuba  to  Mr,  Knox,  Habana, 
April  11,  1912. 


[Translation.] 

SIR: 

The  President  of  the  Republic  has  honored  me 
by  charging  me  with  the  office — a  most  pleasant 
one  for  me — of  giving  you  in  his  name  and  in 
the  name  of  the  Cuban  Government  and  people 
a  most  cordial  and  heartfelt  welcome  to  this  isle 
that  has  rocked  the  cradle  of  many  a  hero,  and 
which  is  ever  a  hospitable  home  in  which  the  stranger 
easily  forgets  his  native  land  midst  the  blandishments 
of  bountiful  nature  and  the  warm  brotherliness  of 
a  people  as  noble  as  it  is  good.  Harbinger  of 
peace,  in  visiting  regions  as  yet  unknown  to  you, 
peopled  by  races  of  an  origin  and  tongue  so  dif 
ferent  from  your  own,  you  do  not  grasp  the  pon 
derous  sword  of  conquest,  but  rather  the  glorious 
caduceus  of  Mercury,  symbol  of  prosperity  and 
beneficence,  entwined  with  olive  and  laurel,  some  of 
whose  leaves  shine  with  the  tears  of  our  sisters  and 
our  own  blood,  while  the  heavenly  radiance  of  our 
martyrdom  and  our  heroism  blends  with  the  halo  of 
light  by  which  it  is  surrounded  and  illumined;  for, 
united,  the  flashing  American  battalions  and  the 
careworn  Cuban  legions,  thin  and  almost  naked, 

175 


176  CUBA. 

accomplished — you  in  a  rapid  campaign,  we  bat 
tling  unwearied  for  half  a  century — the  splendid 
issue  which  renewed  your  traditional  doctrines  of 
world  politics  and  gave  new  direction  to  your  his 
toric  destiny,  while  radically  changing  our  secular 
condition,  both  assuming  from  that  moment,  in 
return  for  new  duties  and  rights  toward  other  na 
tions,  mutual  and  reciprocal  responsibilities  by  vir 
tue  of  which  neither  do  you  assume  the  right  of 
oppressing  us  nor  have  we  suffered  the  misfortunes 
of  a  fresh  bondage. 

With  your  excursion  to  the  free  commonwealths 
of  the  Caribbean  Sea  you  complete  that  other  in 
teresting  and  fruitful  excursion  of  your  illustrious 
predecessor  to  those  republics  south  of  the  Equator, 
animated,  like  him,  by  the  same  spirit  of  harmony 
and  fraternity;  bearers,  both,  of  one  message  of  con 
cord  and  affection  which  the  great  Republic  then 
sent  and  now  repeats  to  these  impetuous  republics, 
shaped  to  her  image,  although  under  different  con 
ditions — some  born,  as  the  most  recent,  at  the 
magic  touch  of  her  diplomacy ;  others,  as  our 
own,  by  the  help  of  her  arms;  and  all,  perhaps, 
maintained  through  the  efficacy  of  her  original  and 
life-giving  principles.  Wherefore  the  visit  of  so 
high  an  envoy  from  the  largest  and  most  famous 
democracy  of  the  world  could  never  imply  purposes 
opposed  to  the  consecration  and  normal  exercise 
and  development  of  republican  institutions,  not  only 
because  of  the  greatness  of  the  august  federation 
whose  conspicuous  and  worthy  representative  you 


SANGUILY.  177 

are,  and  because  of  the  elevation  and  moral  refine 
ment  of  the  generous  people  who  established  it  and 
have  maintained  and  aggrandized  it  in  the  face  of 
great  perils  and  fearful  struggles,  but  because  of 
what,  in  the  evolution  of  ideas  and  the  transforma 
tion  of  history,  the  American  spirit,  American  doc 
trines,  and  American  action  mean  in  the  life  of 
modern  society.  Blessed  fruit  of  a  seasoned  and 
hard-fought  development  inspired  and  sustained  by 
the  highest  aspirations  of  benevolence  and  progress, 
Americanism  is  either  an  empty  word  or  is  as  a 
leaven  of  order,  of  dignity,  and  of  that  serene  trust 
which  in  every  man's  heart  builds  up  the  sense  of 
power  and  righteousness  as  an  impregnable  fortress 
and  sows  in  every  land  the  seed  of  vigorous  virtues 
whereby,  through  its  own  self-respect  and  in  the  ex 
alted  interests  of  justice,  it  may  become  unconquer 
able  and  happy.  Solely  by  that  spirit  which  cre 
ates  and  upholds,  by  the  humane  and  fruitful  power 
of  that  doctrine  which  is  the  product  of  a  high  ava 
tar  of  conscience,  which  is  a  new  gospel  of  redemp 
tion  and  hope  for  oppressed  peoples  and  bulwark 
of  vacillating  and  unstable  democracies,  would  what 
has  been  called  Pan-Americanism  in  contradistinc 
tion  to  Old  World  denominations  be  truly  justified 
and  have  its  full  force,  in  harmony  with  the  dig 
nity  and  happiness  of  nations.  Whatever  may  be 
the  changes  and  applications  of  the  Monroe  Doc 
trine — the  last  phase  of  which  your  excellency  has 
set  forth  and  interpreted  authoritatively  in  a  recent 
well-known  speech — it  never  could  imply,  as  the 

S  105 — 12 


I  78  CUBA. 

malevolent  would  wish,  a  harassing,  illegitimate, 
and  humiliating  suzerainty,  consisting  of  a  constant, 
arbitrary,  and  perturbing  interference  of  an  alien 
government  in  the  private  and  normal  life  of  sov 
ereign  nations. 

My  words  are  prompted,  Mr.  Secretary,  by  my 
admiration  for  your  institutions  as  an  old  revolu 
tionist  as  well  as  by  my  esteem  and  my  gratitude  as 
a  Cuban.  By  participating  in  our  hard  struggle 
with  the  Spanish  power  Americans  probably  ad 
vanced  our  independence  by  several  years,  assuring 
to  us  at  the  same  time  the  favorable  outcome  of  a 
protracted  and  devastating  war,  and  saving  us  from 
a  corresponding  period  of  hate,  bloodshed,  and  ruin. 
Later,  in  a  demoralized  and  discouraged  commu 
nity,  with  their  better  and,  for  us,  novel  methods, 
they  corrected  pernicious  errors,  offsetting  the  de 
fects  of  negligence  and  leveling  obstacles  that  the 
past  had  laid  across  our  path  to  a  new  life,  whereby 
wider  and  brighter  prospects  were  opened  up  to  us. 
And  now,  if  you  counsel  us  in  the  difficulties  of 
national  life,  pointing  out  for  their  avoidance  dan 
gers  born  of  inexperience,  excusable  in  a  commu 
nity  undergoing  radical  changes  in  organization  and 
government  by  bitter  struggling,  it  constitutes  what 
is  known  as  "a  policy  of  prevention";  there  being 
nothing  reprehensible  in  your  exercise  of  an  office 
operated  for  our  own  preservation  and  profit,  and 
our  failure  to  take  advantage  of  the  benefits  it 
offers  would  be  blameworthy  in  us,  inasmuch  as 
we  are  not  to  be  held  responsible  for  the  fatalities 


SANGUILY.  179 

of  history,  nor  of  the  time  and  place  in  which 
we  entered  upon  national  life.  Nor  have  we 
been .  the  first  whom,  because  of  weakness,  you 
have  sought  to  admonish  as  to  error  or  injustice, 
foreseeing  calamity  and  disaster,  since  in  difficult  or 
perilous  circumstances  the  constant  or  direct  action 
of  your  Government  in  American  affairs,  almost 
from  the  beginning  of  the  last  century  till  its  end, 
with  their  assent  and  often  with  their  compliance, 
imposed  timely  rectifications  on  even  strong  gov 
ernments  and  powerful  nations,  even  as  in  Cuba 
itself — in  spite  of  its  great  secular  and  glorious 
titles — the  earnest  words  of  your  Presidents  have 
called  attention  insistently  to  the  dangers  toward 
which  its  blindness  and  pride  were  dragging  it  long 
before  finally  issuing  against  it  a  sentence  from 
which  there  was  no  appeal. 

Knowing,  thus,  our  conditions  and  your  ex 
pressed  purposes  we  should  be  too  suspicious  and 
skeptical  if  we  still  feared  lest,  through  some  evil 
inspiration  of  violence  or  through  unspeakable  mo 
tives,  the  stability  of  our  national  institutions  were 
threatened;  the  more  in  that  you,  too,  Mr.  Secre 
tary,  have  just  proclaimed  in  the  very  heart  of  the 
continent  that  your  country  is  too  great  and  too 
honest  to  covet  foreign  sovereignty  and  too  ex 
tensive  to  need  another's  territory;  that  not  in  vain 
has  an  uninterrupted  heredity  of  virtue  and  culture 
separated  immeasurably  from  the  violence  of  pas 
sion  the  luminous  serenity  of  justice,  nor  from  sav 
age  times  the  present  epochs  of  democracy  and 


l8o  CUBA. 

righteousness,  and  that  the  same  distance  lies  in  the 
moral  world  between  the  chaotic  and  dark  soul  of 
Tamerlane  and  the  pure  and  immaculate  spirit  of 
George  Washington. 

Moreover,  Mr.  Secretary,  we  need  you  in  the 
entire  regulation  of  our  national  life,  as,  for  many 
and  diverse  reasons,  you  need  us,  and  therefore  our 
common  purpose  should  be  in  mutual  usefulness  by 
the  giving  and  exchange  of  reciprocal  and  equiva 
lent  services;  although  it  is  clear  that  for  the  fulfill 
ment  of  such  worthy  aims  it  is  indispensable  that 
neither  here  nor  elsewhere  should  it  be  permitted  and 
much  less  proclaimed  without  due  correction,  by  the 
lawless  voice  of  usury  or  of  mammon,  that  anyone 
can,  by  divine  right,  at  his  fancy,  suppressing  the 
Republic  by  the  scratch  of  a  pen,  reinstall  Cuba  as 
a  subject  colony;  for,  if  we  do  not  live  by  our  own 
right  and  if  our  condition  is  that  of  a  tenant,  subject 
at  will  to  alien  caprices  and  interests,  there  is  neither 
dignity  in  our  lives,  nor  an  authority  to  be  re 
spected  in  the  state,  nor  any  possibility  whatever  of 
true  order  and  honorable  and  permanent  peace. 
The  interests  that  gained  profit  or  were  enriched  in 
the  public  upheaval  and  interventions  brought  about 
by  circumstances  would  be  well  satisfied  and  glad 
if  the  halcyon  days  of  their  power  and  predominance 
were  to  return;  but  for  that  very  reason  the  Cuban 
people  would  be,  indeed,  unfortunate. 

Only  a  few  weeks  ago  the  people  of  this  city 
rendered  their  last  tribute  of  pious  regard  over 
the  remains  of  the  sailors  who  perished  on  the 


SANGUILY.  l8l 

Maine,  and  in  great  crowds  gathered  along  the 
shore  and  followed  with  bated  breath  the  last  voyage 
of  the  fantastic  ship.  Yonder  on  the  horizon,  as 
the  evening  fell,  what  was  left  of  the  fearful  catas 
trophe — the  mutilated  hull — was  submerged  forever ; 
but  in  every  Cuban,  as  in  so  many  American  homes, 
hearts  beat  as  one  remembering  past  days  of  anx 
iety,  pain,  and  glory,  and  in  the  former  as  in  the 
latter  the  tragic  remembrance  of  the  Maine  and  of 
that  sinister  night  on  which  by  the  glow  of  that  great 
disaster  this  new  American  nation  was  brought  to 
life  was  evoked  with  religious  unction.  Born  midst 
such  exceptional  circumstances,  fruit  of  such  labors, 
Cuba  feels  that  the  very  roots  of  her  national  life 
and  of  her  rights  are  planted  and  nourished  in  the 
conscience  of  the  American  nation;  and  so,  trust 
ing  and  grateful,  she  now  extends  her  loyal  hand  to 
her  powerful  and  noble  friend.  When,  as  a  reward 
for  your  triumphant  effort,  the  two  seas  separated 
by  the  Isthmus  since  remote  ages  shall  be  joined  in 
one  embrace,  should  their  waves,  like  the  folded 
cloak  of  the  Roman  ambassador,  hide  the  blessings 
of  peace  or  the  horrors  of  war,  Cuba,  satisfied  and 
content  in  its  happy  independence,  will  enjoy  with 
you  the  incalculable  benefits  of  that  universal  pros 
perity  which  is  approaching  as  the  necessary  result 
of  such  a  marvelous  modification  of  the  continent. 
And  you  may  be  sure,  likewise,  that  in  the  hour  of 
danger  and  of  conflict  your  soldiers  will  not  fight, 
should  it  be  necessary  to  do  so,  with  such  enthusi 
asm  as,  for  its  own  independence  and  in  your  aid,  our 


l82  CUBA. 

people  would  fight,  knowing  as  they  do  that  in  the 
present  state  of  the  world  and  in  the  critical  eventu 
alities  of  an  uncertain  and  not  far-distant  future 
never  shall  the  Cuban  flag  be  more  secure  of  respect 
abroad  than  when  close  to  the  beneficent  shadow  of 
your  own,  which,  strewn  with  stars,  symbols  of  real 
nations  in  the  full  glow  of  life,  prefigures  the  mystic 
and  glorious  galaxy  of  right.  And  therefore  it  is  its 
high  function,  in  conformity  to  tradition  and  purpose, 
to  create  free  commonwealths  and  new  republics 
throughout  the  continent  and  not — as  those  who  out 
rage  her  name  by  invoking  her  power  in  furtherance 
of  inconceivable  enmities  and  ignoble  interests — 
to  be  the  threat  and  scourge  of  weak  nations.  But 
if  the  relentless  purpose  which  iniquitous  prophets 
of  evil  have  been  announcing  should  ever  be  ful 
filled  by  reason  of  the  changes  and  weaknesses  to 
which  humanity  is  subject,  surely  some  unheard-of 
portent  would  befall;  perhaps  that  majestic  woman 
standing  on  Bedloe  Island  in  the  great  estuary 
would  loose  her  metal  girdle  and  extinguish  in  the 
seething  waves  the  gigantic  torch  that  illumines  the 
vast  ocean  and  the  conscience  of  man,  while  a  fear 
some  clamor  sprung  from  a  terrified  disenchantment 
would  be  reechoed  from  wave  to  wave  and  from 
height  to  height,  proclaiming  to  the  darkness  of  the 
world  that  Liberty  was  no  more. 

Never,  however,  shall  such  a  misfortune  take 
place,  far  more  grievous  and  fatal  than  if  at  a  mo 
ment's  notice  the  light  of  all  the  stars  should  be 
extinguished.  Wherefore  allow  me  to  be  the  mouth- 


SANGUILY.  183 

piece  of  hope  and  love,  in  the  sincere  trust,  Mr. 
Secretary,  that  you  may  enjoy  a  long  and  happy  life 
of  honor  and  of  glory;  that  your  illustrious  Presi 
dent  may  be  in  all  circumstances,  as  heretofore,  the 
noble  friend  of  Cuba;  and  that,  crowned  with  bless 
ings,  in  the  prosperity  of  a  spotless  fame,  your 
great  nation  may  be  now,  and  in  centuries  to  come, 
protector  of  the  law,  aegis  of  the  weak,  example  to 
the  strong,  firm  foundation  of  civilization,  palladium 
of  republican  America,  realizing  its  great  destiny 
as  it  circles  in  its  huge  orbit  like  a  benign  star,  in 
harmony  with  all  human  interests  and  amidst  the 
blessings  of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth. 


Reply  of  Mr.  Knox. 

MR.  PRESIDENT  AND  GENTLEMEN: 

It  has  been  my  high  privilege  to  be  the  Presi 
dent's  chosen  instrument  for  conveying  to  the  in 
dependent  nations  of  the  Caribbean  at  this  time, 
when  the  completion  of  the  Panama  Canal  is  near, 
a  message  of  fraternal  good  will  and  an  assurance, 
if,  indeed,  assurance  were  necessary,  of  the  deep 
sense  of  responsibility  felt  by  the  Government  and 
people  of  the  United  States  that  the  great  work 
which  we  have  undertaken  shall  helpfully  contrib 
ute  to  the  well-being  of  the  commonwealths  of  the 
Western  World  and  be  instrumental  in  bringing 
closer  all  the  peoples  of  the  Americas,  inspiring 
them  with  broader  confidence,  more  intimate  sym 
pathy,  and  more  practical  reciprocal  helpfulness  in 
the  promotion  of  their  mutual  advantage  and  coor 
dinate  development.  This  was  the  message  I  car 
ried,  not  alone  to  the  peoples  of  the  Caribbean 
littoral  but  to  all  the  countries  of  Latin  America, 
emphasizing  the  sincerity  of  purpose  and  the  pur 
ity  of  motive  which  have  animated  the  United 
States  in  all  its  dealings  with  Latin  America. 
As  I  said  at  Panama,  intelligent  consideration  of 
the  relations  of  the  United  States  to  the  other 
American  republics  makes  it  clear  that  our  poli 
cies  have  been  without  a  trace  of  sinister  motive  or 
design,  craving  neither  sovereignty  nor  territory. 
184 


KNOX.  185 

The  special  purpose  of  my  mission  having  been 
accomplished,  it  is  alike  appropriate  and  gratifying 
that  on  my  homeward  journey  I  should  have  the 
opportunity  to  get  into  closer  personal  touch  with 
the  one  sovereign  people  of  the  whole  Western 
World  who  are,  above  all,  in  a  position  to  know 
and  appreciate  the  broad  and  essentially  conscien 
tious  policy  of  Anglo-Saxon  America  toward 
Latin  America.  So  far  as  Cuba  is  concerned,  our 
record  speaks  for  itself.  It  is  consistent  and  un 
blemished.  It  was  formulated  and  proclaimed  be 
fore  the  first  shot  was  fired  at  Manila  initiating  the 
conflict  to  free  from  a  crushing  despotism  "this 
fairest  land  the  eye  had  ever  seen"  and  which,  hap 
pily,  ended  in  gaining  a  free  Cuba  for  free  Cubans. 
That  policy  has  been  lived  up  to  ever  since.  It 
needs  no  reiterative  protestations.  It  is  a  constant, 
vital  entity,  needing  not  to  be  galvanized  into  spas 
modic  action ;  neither  should  its  true  import  be 
dulled  by  wearisome  repetition.  Good  faith  is  a 
thing  that  proves  itself  by  deeds,  not  words.  Our 
deeds  in  respect  to  the  Cuban  people  are  before 
you.  Look  to  them  for  fresh  assurance — if  there 
be  any  doubting  Thomas  who  thinks  he  needs  it— 
that  the  United  States  stands  firmly  as  the  true, 
wholehearted  friend  of  Cuba,  glad  of  the  work  we 
have  done  for  the  Cuban  people  and  ready  to  aid 
them  to  conserve  the  civic  and  material  benefits 
which  it  was  our  good  fortune  to  be  instrumental 
in  helping  them  to  win. 


l86  CUBA. 

First  among  these  benefits  is  self-government. 
We  hold  that  all  peoples  are  fit  to  work  out  the 
highest  ideals  of  self-government  by  creating  for 
themselves  and  by  their  own  effort  a  healthy  national 
life,  inspired  by  the  safe  and  sane  exercise  of  the 
popular  will,  homogeneous  in  all  its  parts,  free  from 
radical  weakness  or  corporeal  blemish,  self-respect 
ing  and  imbued  with  respect  for  the  rights  of  all  at 
home  and  abroad.  Providence  has  called  upon  free 
Cuba  to  be  a  model  state  among  the  popular  com 
monwealths  of  the  world  and  has  opened  the  way 
to  the  achievement  of  that  noble  purpose.  That  is 
the  goal  for  which  we  have,  with  you,  spent  our  blood 
and  treasure  and  to  which  our  earnest  efforts  will 
ever  be  directed.  The  beginning  of  Cuban  political 
life  was  the  affirmation  of  the  brotherhood  of  the 
American  and  Cuban  peoples.  Let  us  ever  be 
brothers. 

I  speak  to  you,  with  all  the  earnestness  I  may, 
the  thoughts  that  rise  at  this  time,  when  Cuba  stands 
on  the  threshold  of  a  new  era  of  even  greater  pros 
perity  and  progress  by  reason  of  being  a  natural 
gateway  to  the  great  Isthmian  Canal  and  being  des 
tined,  in  the  inevitable  logic  of  events,  to  share  in 
the  almost  incalculable  possibilities  to  spring  from 
the  new  channel  to  be  opened  to  the  world's  com 
merce  under  a  fresh  and  controlling  impetus.  It 
makes  a  newer  world  of  the  New  World  of  Colum 
bus.  As  I  said  at  Panama,  "In  this  new  world  we 
must  be  found  drawn  closer  by  sympathies  and 
mutual  esteem,  and  working  in  harmony  toward 


KNOX.  187 

beneficent  ends.  This  must  be  so,  for  our  greatest 
interests  are  those  that  are  common  to  us  all."  We 
must  not  forget  that  in  order  to  work  together 
toward  common  ends  each  co-worker  must  be  in 
a  position  to  do  his  effective  share  of  the  common 
task.  Even  as  the  capacity  of  the  individual 
workman  is  dependent  on  soundness  of  body  and 
mind,  so  the  potential  efficiency  of  a  community 
is  measured  by  the  homogeneous  perfection  of  its 
civic  organization  and  by  the  logical  soundness  of 
the  public  mind  that  directs  its  operations.  While 
liberty  is  attained  through  patriotic  valor,  yet  it 
is  only  through  fraternity  and  unselfish  coordina 
tion  that  it  is  perpetuated.  The  crisis  in  the  life 
of  any  nation  that  has  thrown  off  the  yoke  of 
tyranny  is  the  period  of  rehabilitation.  When  the 
cohesive  bonds  of  a  common  peril  are  relaxed  by 
the  removal  of  the  danger  and  liberty  succeeds 
oppression,  unselfish  fraternity  must  be  substituted 
for  the  unity  which  a  common  danger  furnished 
during  the  struggle  for  national  rights.  A  people 
liberated  from  oppressive  tyranny  is  no  better 
off  if  unrestrained  selfishness,  which  almost  in 
evitably  leads  to  anarchy,  is  the  result.  A  people 
so  situated  can  not  profitably  exercise  the  right  of 
self-government  unless  they  work  faithfully  together 
with  singleness  of  aim.  Mistrust,  jealousy,  selfish 
ness,  aloofness,  and  apathy  will  rob  a  people  of  their 
birthright.  There  is  always  more  to  unite  than  to 
separate  all  classes  of  citizens,  and  in  Cuba,  as  in  all 
republics,  all  classes  should  be  alert  in  the  conscious- 


1 88  CUBA. 

ness  of  their  civic  duties  and  not  remit  the  destinies 
of  their  country  to  the  hands  of  the  few  who,  with 
nothing  to  lose  and  everything  to  gain,  make  a  busi 
ness  of  the  politics  of  their  country. 

It  is  the  fervent  prayer  of  my  Government  and 
my  countrymen  that  free  Cuba  may  abide  stead 
fastly  in  the  high  station  to  which  Providence  has 
called  her,  sturdy  with  the  strength  of  stable  self- 
control,  free  from  the  infirmities  that  beset  weak 
peoples,  and  earnest  in  the  path  of  self-development. 

Coming  among  you  as  I  do,  the  cordiality  of 
the  welcome  I  have  received  makes  it  impossible  to 
realize  that  I  am  in  a  strange  land,  among  strange 
kinsfolk.  I  feel,  rather,  that  I  am  of  your  brother 
hood,  as  you  are  of  mine.  I  come,  too,  at  an 
auspicious  time,  when  the  association  of  feeling 
between  my  country  and  yours  is  made  closer  by 
the  sad  memories  attending  the  removal  of  the 
wreck  of  the  Maine.  The  waves  of  ocean  have 
clasped  that  ill-fated  ship  in  their  eternal  embrace, 
and  your  beautiful  harbor  is  no  longer  marred  by 
the  presence  of  a  gloomy  monument  of  national 
resentment  and  strife.  As  the  sun  rises  upon  the 
unbroken  expanse  of  your  noble  bay,  it  brings  a 
message  of  oblivion  of  the  dark  past  and  of 
encouragement  for  the  new  Cuba,  strong  in  the 
possession  of  rightful  strength  and  at  peace  with 
all  the  world. 


XI 


Speeches  on  Board  the  " Washington" 


189 


Speech  of  Mr.  Knox  to  the  officers  and  men  on  board 
the  U.  S.  S.  "Washington",  Sunday,  April  14, 
1912. 


GENTLEMEN : 

When  Captain  Hughes  asked  me,  a  day  or  so 
ago,  if  I  would  be  willing  to  say  a  few  words  to  the 
men  of  this  gallant  ship,  I  told  him  promptly  and 
without  hesitation  that  it  would  give  me  great 
pleasure,  indeed,  to  do  so.  I  realize  how  utterly 
impossible  it  will  be  for  my  voice  to  reach  the  ears 
of  all  of  you  here  upon  this  open  deck.  I  have  had 
the  experience  upon  this  voyage  of  talking  against 
steam  whistles  at  Colon,  talking  against  the  merry 
chat  of  the  dancers  in  the  ballroom  at  Guatemala 
City,  but  this  is  the  first  time  in  my  life  that  I  have 
been  compelled  to  compete  with  the  roaring  of  Old 
Ocean,  and  I  admit  in  advance  my  inability  to  do  so. 

I  wish  you  all  to  be  impressed  with  this  fact— 
that  I  regard  the  success  this  mission  has  attained 
is,  in  a  large  degree,  due  to  the  men  of  this  ship. 
You  have  carried  us  with  the  promptness  of  an  ex 
press  train  upon  a  well-regulated  railroad  to  our 
several  destinations  and  enabled  us  promptly  to 
meet  all  our  engagements,  which  is  an  important 
factor  in  transactions  between  representatives  of 
different  governments.  You  have  not  only  been 
largely  instrumental  in  the  success  of  the  mission, 
but  you  have  contributed  greatly  to  the  pleasures, 

191 


ON    BOARD    THE    WASHINGTON. 

and  I  can  say  to  the  profit,  of  those  of  us  upon 
whom  the  direct  responsibilities  of  its  success  were 
cast.  We  have  participated  with  you  in  your  rec 
reations,  we  have  enjoyed  visiting  the  various 
parts  of  the  ship,  and  we  have  seen  you  in  the  dis 
charge  of  your  daily  duties,  and  I  wish  to  say  to 
you  now,  speaking  in  my  official  capacity,  that  the 
knowledge  that  I  have  acquired  of  the  personnel  of 
one  of  our  great  vessels  of  war  will  be  of  inestima 
ble  value  to  me  in  the  discharge  of  my  official  du 
ties,  because  you  must  know  that  the  efficiency  of 
diplomacy  depends  largely  upon  the  Navy  and  that 
the  efficiency  of  the  Navy  depends  entirely  upon 
the  character  of  the  crews  who  man  the  ships. 
When  the  United  States  believes  that  it  is  neces 
sary  for  the  protection  of  its  rights  or  for  the  dis 
charge  of  its  international  duties  to  call  upon  those 
nations  within  the  special  sphere  of  its  influence 
and  responsibility  to  cease  needless  war,  to  stop  the 
shedding  of  innocent  blood,  the  presence  of  an 
American  vessel  in  the  neighborhood  as  an  efficient 
means  for  the  enforcement  of  our  rights  or  the  per 
formance  of  our  duties  generally  insures  the  peace 
in  the  troubled  region. 

Gentlemen,  I  wish  to  thank  you  all  for  the 
many  courtesies  you  have  shown  my  party.  I  am 
glad  of  this  opportunity  of  getting  closer  to  you 
than  we  have  been  able  to  do  until  now.  It  would 
have  been  a  great  satisfaction  to  have  formed  the 
personal  acquaintance  of  every  man  upon  this  ship, 
but  •  inasmuch  as  your  numbers  and  the  exacting 


KNOX.  193 

and  responsible  nature  of  your  duties  have  deprived 
me  of  that  pleasure  permit  me  to  say  now  to  you 
that  this  present  opportunity  to  talk  to  you  has 
been  a  very  real  satisfaction  and  pleasure. 

The  other  members  of  my  party  desire  likewise 
to  say  a  word  to  you  and  I  shall  retire  now  and  give 
place  to  Mr.  Hale,  one  of  the  editors  of  the 
World's  Work,  a  great  periodical  with  which  you 
are  all  acquainted,  that  he  may  say  something  to 
you  in  behalf  of  the  American  press,  which  is  rep 
resented  on  board  the  Washington. 

s  105—13 


Remarks  of  Mr.  Hale,  of  the  World's  Work,  on 
board  the  U.  S.  S.  "Washington",  Sunday, 
April  14,  1912. 


MR.  SECRETARY,  CAPTAIN  HUGHES,  OFFICERS  AND 

MEN  OF  THE  "WASHINGTON": 
The  representatives  of  the  press  here  aboard  de 
sire  me  to  say  for  them  that  their  interest  in  the 
American  Navy,  always  great,  and  their  admiration 
for  it  has  been  vastly  increased  by  what  we  have 
seen  within  the  last  two  months.  Aside  from  the 
chief  purpose  of  our  presence  here,  which  has  been 
to  describe  the  memorable  journey  of  the  Secretary 
through  Central  American  and  Caribbean  coun 
tries,  we  count  it  a  very  great  opportunity,  indeed, 
to  have  seen  something  of  the  life  of  a  naval  ves 
sel,  as  exemplified  on  this  splendid  ship,  with  its 
splendid  officers,  and  splendid  crew,  and  splendid 
record.  We  are  still  a  little  hazy  about  things  nau 
tical  and  very  much  puzzled  by  a  good  deal  of  the 
language  we  hear  in  the  wardroom,  but  we  are  not 
hazy  in  our  conclusion  that  if  the  spirit  of  enthusi 
asm  and  of  work  which  we  see  here  is  typical  of  the 
spirit  of  the  American  Navy  then  that  Navy  de 
serves  the  very  best  the  nation  can  give,  and  we 
are  not  hazy  or  uncertain  in  our  conviction  that  if 
Congress  will  give  you  the  ships  you  desire  there 
will  never  float  on  the  blue  waters  of  any  of  the 
194 


HALE.  195 

Seven  Seas  anything  that  the  clean,  intelligent, 
steady  nerves,  steady-hearted  men  of  the  American 
Navy,  under  their  ever-alert  officers,  can  not  knock 
the  stuffing  out  of  any  moment  in  the  day  or  night, 
if  necessary. 

We  hope  that  will  never  be  necessary.  Forgive 
me  if  I  say  I  believe  our  people  hope  that  any 
dreams  of  victorious  battle  that  your  imaginations 
naturally  cherish  may  never  be  realized ;  hope  that 
yours  will  continue  to  be  the  work  of  keeping  the 
Navy  in  a  state  of  such  manifest  efficiency  that  it 
will  never  be  necessary  to  prove  that  efficiency. 

But  whatever  may  be  the  future,  it  is  safe  to 
say  that  you  will  probably  never  do  a  more  useful 
or,  in  its  way,  more  glorious  service  for  your  coun 
try  than  you  have  done  in  conveying  the  Secretary 
of  State  on  his  mission  to  these  troubled  regions  of 
the  world.  Secretary  Knox  has  some  virtues  and 
a  number  of  redeeming  vices,  but  he  lacks  the  great 
characteristic  of  a  politician :  he  is  too  modest,  and 
he  was  too  modest  this  morning  to  tell  you  of  the 
vast  importance  of  this  cruise  and  of  the  complete 
success,  the  victorious  success,  with  which  it  has 
been  accomplished ;  but  I  can  say  as  a  reporter  that 
no  man  can  tell  of  the  results  of  this  mission  of 
peace  and  good  will,  no  man  would  be  foolhardy 
enough  to  undertake  to  state  the  limits  of  the  far- 
reaching  results  that  may  flow  from  the  magnificent 
presence  in  the  harbors  of  all  the  countries  of  this 
region  of  the  Maryland  and  the  Washington,  great 
engines  of  war,  consecrated  to  the  purposes  of 


196  ON    BOARD    THE    WASHINGTON. 

peace,  backed  up  by  the  words  of  broad  statesman 
ship,  the  noble  assurances  of  good  will  and  friendli 
ness  uttered  by  the  Secretary  in  the  capitals  of 
these  countries.  I  tell  you  that  the  journey  upon 
which  the  Washington  has  conveyed  the  Secretary 
of  State  has  been  a  history-making  journey. 

I  now  give  way  to  one  of  the  great  orators  and 
statesmen  of  America,  Martin  W.  Littleton,  a 
great  friend  of  the  United  States  Navy,  but  before 
I  do  so  may  I,  in  the  name  of  the  press,  wish  good 
luck  to  the  good  ship  Washington,  her  captain, 
officers,  and  men,  always,  on  every  sea,  in  every 
port. 


Remarks  of  Hon.  Martin  W.  Littleton  to  the  offi 
cers  and  crew  of  the  U.  S.  S.  "Washington", 
April  14,  1912. 


I  count  myself  distinctly  fortunate  in  having 
been  in  Habana  at  a  time  when  I  could  be  the  re 
cipient  of  an  invitation  to  make  the  return  journey 
upon  the  Washington  in  such  goodly  company. 
One  reason  was  that  I  would  have  an  opportunity 
of  seeing  the  conclusion  of  that  pilgrimage  of  peace 
made  by  the  honorable  Secretary  of  State  on  behalf 
of  the  American  people  to  the  various  countries  and 
governments  to  the  south  of  us.  Another  reason 
was  that  I  should  have  a  chance  to  see  those  who 
are  actually  primarily  engaged  in  the  mission  of 
peace  because  they  are  always  prepared  for  the 
dangers  and  demands  of  war;  those  who,  with  the 
honorable  Secretary,  have  been  bearing  a  message 
of  good  will  to  all  the  southern  countries  and  cleans 
ing  the  bosom  of  each  nation  of  prejudice  and  igno 
rance,  that  kind  of  ignorance  and  prejudice  which 
is  at  the  foundation  of  the  disasters  of  war  and 
which  serves  more  to  retard  human  progress  than 
all  other  influences  put  together. 

It  is  particularly  gratifying  to  know  that  this 
pilgrimage,  made  by  the  honorable  Secretary,  re 
flecting  so  much  credit  on  him  and  his  wise  judg 
ment,  was  met  by  those  with  whom  he  came  in 

197 


198  ON    BOARD    THE    WASHINGTON. 

contact  with  unbounded  enthusiasm  and  a  grateful 
recognition  of  our  friendly  relations.  There  he  was 
received  with  open  arms,  with  banners,  with  music, 
with  flowers,  and  innumerable  tokens  of  high 
esteem. 

One  word  about  the  Navy.  I  believe  that  we 
should  have  a  navy  growing  and  advancing  with  the 
growth  and  advancement  of  our  country,  not  one 
so  abnormally  large  as  to  provoke  the  suspicion  of 
the  world,  not  one  so  increasingly  small  as  to  invite 
the  contempt  of  other  countries,  but  a  navy  which, 
like  every  other  great  national  institution,  keeps 
pace  with  the  progress  of  its  people  and  the  advances 
of  time. 

I  left  Congress  a  week  ago  this  last  Wednesday. 
I  had  just  come  from  a  conference  of  the  majority 
side  of  the  House  regarding  the  battleships  of  the 
future.  In  my  opinion  we  made  a  serious  mistake 
in  deciding  that  there  should  be  no  more  battleships 
this  year.  Some  of  us  have  refused  to  be  bound 
by  this  policy  and  with  the  aid  of  the  Senate  I  feel 
sure  that  this  mistaken  policy  will  be  reversed  before 
the  end  of  the  session,  that  we  will  not  proclaim  to 
the  world  the  discontinuance  of  the  building  of 
a  navy. 

Just  a  personal  word  to  you  of  the  crew.  You 
come  from  every  part  of  the  United  States;  you  go 
to  every  part  of  the  world ;  you  typify  the  American 
life;  you  are  missionaries  and  exemplars.  You 
inevitably  stand  for  America  in  every  port.  I  count 
that  heroism,  that  courage,  the  greatest  and  the 


LITTLETON.  199 

best  which  gives  itself  to  the  unseen  and  undramatic 
drudgery  of  work  in  behalf  of  one's  country,  such 
as  the  work  rendered  by  you.  These  great  instru 
ments  of  war  and  of  peace,  these  cruisers  and 
battleships,  these  are  your  homes.  Your  charge  is 
American  liberty  and  American  peace;  your  emblem 
is  the  American  flag,  brilliant  in  all  its  manifold 
colors,  floating  always  above  you  as  an  unfailing 
inspiration. 


Remarks  of  Judge  Morgan  O '  Brien  to  the  officers 
and  crew  of  the  U.  S.  S.  "Washington",  April 
14,  1912. 


This  is  a  very  great  privilege,  to  have  had  an 
opportunity  of  coming  upon  this  great  battleship, 
through  the  kindness  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  and 
my  purpose  is  not  to  detain  you  with  a  speech,  but 
to  make  my  acknowledgments  to  him  and  to  the 
captain  of  this  great  vessel  and  to  the  officers  and 
to  you  men  for  the  pleasure  that  I  have  received  on 
the  occasion  of  my  first  experience  as  a  visitor  and 
guest  on  one  of  these  great  vessels.  Like  the  dis 
tinguished  orator,  Mr.  Littleton,  whom  you  have 
just  heard,  neither  of  us  knows  much  about  a  ship. 
I  of  course  know  much  more  about  it  than  he  does. 
They  tell  a  story  of  one  of  our  greatest  Presidents, 
Mr.  Lincoln,  who,  during  the  Civil  War,  called  a 
Cabinet  meeting  to  consider  certain  proposed 
changes  in  the  policy  of  the  Navy.  When  they 
came  out  of  the  meeting,  having  had  an  acrimonious 
discussion  as  to  changes  suggested  in  the  types  of 
ships  to  be  used  in  the  future  conduct  of  the  war, 
Mr.  Chase,  then  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  said  to 
the  President,  "It  is  too  bad  that  Mr.  Welles,  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  should  have  been  so  strong 
and  positive  in  his  views  as  to  the  future  conduct  of 
the  Navy,  and  I  fear  he  has  annoyed  you";  where- 


200 


O  BRIEN.  2OI 

upon  the  President  said  to  Chase,  "You  mustn't 
worry  about  that.  I  will  come  out  all  right.  When 
I  came  into  the  Presidency  and  invited  Mr.  Welles 
into  the  Cabinet  neither  of  us  then  knew  the  bow 
from  the  stern  of  a  boat.  I  have  since  learned  the 
difference  though  up  to  this  time  he  has  failed  to 
note  the  distinction,  but  as  he  is  an  able  and  patri 
otic  man  the  Navy  will  not  suffer." 

Our  great  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Knox,  on 
returning  from  his  mission  of  peace,  has  indicated 
and  pointed  out  what  advances  have  been  made  and 
how  the  Navy  has  steadily  grown  in  efficiency  and  in 
strength  and  in  usefulness.  This  occasion  is  an 
inspiring  one.  A  beautiful  Sunday  morning  on 
the  Atlantic  Ocean  with  the  sun  shining,  a  great 
ship  on  its  return  from  an  epoch-making  trip,  here 
in  the  presence  of  the  representative  of  our  Gov 
ernment,  the  opportunity  is  afforded  to  express  to 
the  officers  and  men  of  the  Washington  the  feelings 
which  all  Americans  entertain,  irrespective  of  parties, 
for  the  Navy  and  for  the  splendid  unselfish  and 
patriotic  work  which  they  are  performing  for  their 
country.  Ideals  and  standards  are  the  real  things 
in  life  and  in  no  department  of  government  service 
are  they  better  or  higher. 

When  one  feels  deeply  and  strongly,  when 
sentiments  swell  from  the  heart  it  is  difficult  to 
appropriately  express  them.  Silence  is  the  lan 
guage  of  deep  and  abiding  feeling.  I  wish,  how 
ever,  to  say  to  you  how  much  pleasure  we  have  had 
in  being  here  to-day  and  meeting  the  rank  and  file 


2O2  ON    BOARD    THE    WASHINGTON. 

of  this  great  ship  and  of  saying  to  the  Secretary  of 
State  what  a  great  honor  he  has  conferred  on  us 
in  extending  the  invitation  to  be  his  guests,  and  I 
shall  carry  away  the  recollection  of  this  occasion 
and  an  abiding  appreciation  of  the  great  kindness 
extended  and  a  keener  realization  of  the  splendid 
service  which  you  men  are  doing  and  the  obligation 
which  you  are  placing  upon  every  citizen  of  our 
country  for  your  unselfish  work  in  promoting  the 
peace  of  the  world  and  the  prosperity  of  our 
country. 


XII 


Statement  to  the  Press 


203 


Statement  to  the  Press  by  Mr.  Knox  upon  his  return 
to  Washington,  April  //, 


The  purpose  of  my  mission,  as  indicated  in  my 
letter  of  instruction  from  the  President  and  by 
him  publicly  stated,  was,  through  a  friendly  visit 
and  personal  acquaintance  with  the  officers  of  the 
governments  and  peoples  of  the  Caribbean  republics, 
to  put  our  relations  with  them  upon  a  basis  of  bet 
ter  understanding. 

It  is  well  known  by  those  who  have  given 
attention  to  conditions  in  some  of  the  countries  I 
have  visited  that  misrepresenting  the  attitude  and 
purposes  of  the  United  States  toward  them  has 
for  many  years  been  a  feature  of  their  democratic 
politics,  and  it  is  equally  well  known  that  there  has 
existed  in  the  United  States  a  small  coterie  of 
directly  interested  persons  who  have  been  endeav 
oring  to  block  reforms  essential  to  the  progress  of 
some  of  the  weaker  republics  which  would  break 
down  political  abuses  through  which  they  were 
profiting  and  a  wretched  despotism  was  being 
upheld. 

The  operation  of  these  two  forces  upon  political 
progress  in  the  countries  affected  by  them  has  been 
deadly,  and  the  misrepresentations  of  us  to  them 
and  of  them  to  us  has  rapidly  jeopardized  friendly 

205 


2O6  STATEMENT    TO    THE    PRESb. 

and  normal  international  relations  by  crystallizing 
misunderstanding  into  prejudice.  This  situation 
has  been  greatly  aggravated  by  the  seeming  inability 
through  news  channels  of  getting  important  and 
substantial  truth  either  into  or  out  of  some  parts, 
especially  of  Central  America. 

What  effect  my  visit  may  have  in  permanently 
improving  our  relations  with  and  conditions  in  the 
countries  I  have  visited  is  largely  a  matter  of  con 
jecture.  I  prefer  at  this  time  to  make  no  predic 
tions  beyond  this:  That  in  the  concrete  case  of 
Nicaragua,  if  our  Senate  will  consent  to  the  ratifi 
cation  of  the  treaty  with  that  country  now  before 
it,  the  effect  will  be  instantaneously  beneficial  and 
new  life  and  hope  will  inspire  a  people  who  for 
years  have  been  the  victims  of  a  crushing  despotism. 

The  means  through  which  the  President  felt 
that  good  results  might  be  accomplished  were  dili 
gently  employed.  Every  facility  was  furnished  in 
each  country  visited  for  meeting  under  the  most 
delightful  auspices  the  officials  of  the  government 
and  all  classes  of  the  people.  Full  and  frank  con 
versations  I  have  had  with  the  responsible  people 
of  different  countries,  both  those  in  official  and 
private  life,  and  the  exceptional  facilities  I  have 
enjoyed  through  the  members  of  the  American 
press  accompanying  me  in  getting  popular  expres 
sion,  especially  from  those  in  opposition  to  the 
governments,  certainly  have  furnished  me  with  a 
better  understanding  of  these  governments  and 


KNOX.  2O7 

peoples  and  enabled  me  clearly  to  set  before  them 
the  attitude  of  the  United  States  toward  them. 

It  was  most  gratifying  to  observe  the  genuine 
friendliness  toward  and  interest  in  the  people  of  the 
United  States  in  all  the  countries  I  visited  and 
the  warmth  of  its  manifestation  when  the  real  pur 
pose  of  my  mission  was  appreciated.  In  no  country 
was  our  reception  one  of  mere  formal  courtesy. 
We  left  each  country  with  the  firm  belief  that  we 
were  better  understood  when  we  left  than  when  we 
came,  and  that  the  almost  indescribably  bountiful 
hospitality  and  kindness  showered  upon  us  reflected 
a  sentiment  as  cordial  as  it  was  generous  toward  the 
country  and  the  people  whom  we  represented. 

In  view  of  the  repeated  and  emphatic  announce 
ments  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine  at  all  periods  in  our 
history,  and  by  all  shades  of  domestic  political  opin 
ions,  and  the  emphasis  which  seems  to  have  been 
given  to  that  doctrine  by  the  extreme  care  the 
Senate  recently  took  to  prevent  the  possibility  of 
any  phase  of  its  assertion  being  submitted  to  arbi 
tration,  I  am  more  than  ever  convinced  of  the  logic 
and  wisdom  of  our  helping  the  weaker  republics  to 
help  themselves  to  avoid  specific  conditions  where 
we  might  be  embarrassed  by  its  assertion.  , 

The  almost  incalculable  native  wealth  of  the 
Caribbean  countries,  the  great  variety  and  beauty 
of  scenery,  and  the  salubrity  of  climate  are  the 
physical  conditions  that  most  impressed  us. 

With  political    and    financial   stability  in   such 


2O8  STATEMENT    TO    THE    PRESS. 

countries  where  these  conditions  are  now  wanting, 
and  under  the  benevolent  sway  of  peace,  there  is 
bound  to  be  a  steady  development  of  their  resources 
and  a  growing  appreciation  of  their  natural  charms 
and  attractions. 

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